The Home Feeling (Part – one)

ADJUSTMENT

Finally after 8 months I am back home. Well it wouldn't have been possible for me to get back home; had it not been for Swine Flu. Number of people getting affected with swine flu was increasing at an alarming rate in Pune. As a result schools and colleges were asked to shut down for a week. That was how i got a chance to get back home. This made me both happy and sad. Happy coz i was going back home after a time elapse of 8 months; Sad because i may not be able to stay there for more than 4 days. If you ask me its such a pain in the ass to accomodate 4 days for travel in a 8 days round-trip schedule. Yeah it takes me 40-45 hours to reach to my native place Bhagalpur. But the feeling of being with mom and dad had overridden every little pain that actually crumbled in my mind.

The onward journey was such a piece of freak. We were a group of 11 guys traveling together to Bhagalpur. Two things made itself very clear before we set off. First the journey is gonna be no piece of journey/travel I had made till date. Secondly its possible to do practically everything on the train. Thank god Indian Railways.

11th August was the Travel date. 20:50hrs was the scheduled time for the train to depart. Moreover 11th was a ***ing Tuesday which meant i had to go to office too. So it was pretty sort of clear that its gonna be tough. I started to make my preparations a day well in advance. “Are you gonna come with me to office 2moro.” I keyed in the sms and sent to TG. [kk.. i think i need to make an introduction here. TG is my Project partner and we work together at TRDDC.. apart from that a sweet buddy but too organised :)!! btw TG stands for Tejal Gajare.. though i prefer the first name.. TG sounds kinda kool .. lol :-) ]. I knew taking into account the conditions in Pune regarding H1N1.. the answer being 'no' seemed more likely to me; I was just waiting for an official confirmation. And as expected she said she is taking a leave this week. AS had already left for Indore a day before.. which clearly elucidated the fact that i was going to office alone.[kk..time for another introduction.. AS is my second project mate..and a very good friend of mine who deserves credit for my in time submissions..btw AS stands for Ankit Soni :-)] Which meant i had to drive 15kms ..:-(.!!.. But then i knew if i take a leave i will be spending whole day in my apartment dozing off..

I took leave early that day; and to my surprise my GL was more than happy to grant me one. All thanks to H1N1. Even a virus can be a blessing in disguise; i never realized until that day. I reached back Kothrud by 5:30pm . There were somethings to be taken care of. First and foremost i had to get some Project related e-books from TG. So heading to her place was my foremost priority secondly i had to meet AD too as he was also leaving the same day. I wrapped up my enterprise by 6:30 pm and was back to my apartment. I had exactly one hour for shower,packing, writing some mails etc etc etc.. After an action packed one hour finally i was ready. By 8:15 pm we were station. By “we” in specific i mean all 11.


What I saw at the platform was a complete mess. A freaking disaster in actual words. A mob waited to welcome me. I thought as if some celebrity was gonna come to Railway station. “Dude, is some one special visiting Pune”, i asked KK. “What make you say such ??”, KK replied after a quick scan. I knew his scan was to bookmark some chicks. He always did it in first place whenever he visited Railways station. “No .. just the crowd made me awstruck”, i answered him. He was still busy in his thefty scan. He seemed less interested in my words and more interested in two chinkis standing less than a metre ahead “You Dickhead.. slacky mind.. Asshole ..i am talking to you..”. And this time he listened .. he had to “Yeah yeah .. i am here .. sorry no its just the people who are boarding the same train”, he replied.. “What the fuck man .. !!! means how even so many people can have a thought to get into a train.. means the crowd is massive..”i cried “Well thats Indian Spirit .. ADJUSTMENT and you will see it for yourself.. cmon lets get ahead”, kk seemed less worried than me and that was pretty much evident in his words. I took out my tickets and looked over it again only to earn myself a re-assurance; i could hear myself saying, “yessss !!! I have a confirm ticket” , the moment meant a lot to me.

We moved ahead to grab our seats. We had 8 tickets confirmed while 3 were still on waiting. We planned to get the entire lobby of 8 for ourselves so that we coud actually get 11 peoples going. Next one hour KK and me both of us were very busy negotiating with co – passengers offering the best feasible and possible deals we could have. After making a series of swaps and exchanges we managed to secure 6 place altogether. “Oh i could do well in sales & marketing”, i mumbled to myself. The only 2 person whom we couldnt get an another seat were a oldage couple. “Not bad”, KK said. Within one hr the crowd had settled in. And so was uncle and aunty who fell asleep very soon.

It was almost 11pm by the time we settled in totality after making so called ADJUSTMENT; as quoted by KK. I had to make a call to one of my friend so i just slipped to a more private zone where less of noise could be heard. After 15 minutes i came back to my place. To my surprise 6 of them were moving out.. “Where are you guys going ??”, i asked. “Bathroom”,all replied in chorus and then i reaized they needed a smoke and there wasnt a better place on train to smoke than a bathroom. I saw their arrangement. 2 guys watched one end while the other 2 the other. The remaining 2 shared the smoke. “God damn...”, i was amazed at their strategical and tactical skills. They exchanged their positions in cycles and 3 consecutive exchange and they all had a chance to smoke without getting caught. “Amazing guys”. Given a chance they would serve as excellent operational managers; I congratulated them. “ADJUSTMENT dude..adjustment”, someone replied. I smiled at them and left for my berth.

The day at office and so much of activity had weared me out. Hardly had i lied down on my berth, when i fell asleep. It was about 1:30am when i woke up. The train was making such a nasty noise that practically did away my sleep. The other 3 from my group were snoring off; while there was an active group of 7 guys who were still awake. “Arent u guys gonna get some sleep”, i asked them. “The party is still on buddy”, some one replied. It was dark and i wasnt able to figure out who was partying at 1:45 am on Train. I switched on the lights. I saw each of them having a 600ml Pepsi bottle with them. “Wtf people.... are you out of mind.. you are having a swig of pepsi at this part of time ??”, i asked them. “yeah why dont you have some”,one of them offered me. “Okay but i will have only a gulp..” i took the bottle brought it close to my lips .. i smelled something different. Something more than pepsi. I smelled liquor. “Are you out of your mind You guys boosing on train.. do you even know how risky it is ..You can be fined for it. !!” “ADJUSTMENT buddy adjustment”, “To hell with your freaky adjustment man.. this is limit ”, i replied; plugged in my headphones and pulled over the sheet. I had too many things to deal with and dealing with them was low down in my priority..I was damn tired.

The next morning i woke up. I shouldnt say it morning.. rather it was 2:30 noon. I saw the rest 10 upright on their seats. “Would you like to have some lunch ?? ”, KK asked. “No thanks.. Humans do brush and eat... huh !! btw werent you guys caught last night...”i asked. “nah. Nay...ADJUSTMENT bro adjustment”. That left me a smile on my face. I looked around myself. I could figure out so many adjustments. 3 people were trying to share a seat that allowed only two. The guy below me was tryng to send a sms for last 15 minutes. The network sucked. The tea seller was trying hard to get some much wanted promotion for his tea. I peeped out of the window, the sun was trying hard among the clouds. Even i was trying hard to get along the travel. Everyone around me was trying hard to make some or the other kind of adjustment. “Huh Huh Huh!!!” I smiled at myself and left for the washroom. I was damn Hungry and in no mood to make even slightest of ADJUSTMENT.