In the mornings of weekdays, the metro stations became crowded with people. Metro trains are a comfortable means to travel in a metropolitan area, where there are less trees, more buildings and the heat can reach unbearable limits in summers.
Vidhi took the local train for going to college, they lacked comfort and a bit of cleanliness, they took a bit more time and allowed the warm air in through their always open doors and windows with non-functional shutters, but this is what Vidhi was used to from before the metro trains arrived. The local trains were never that prominent here but they used to be one of the important modes of transport once. Vidhi had travelled in one of them the first time with her paternal grandmother who would once in a week or two go to one of the public libraries.
They used to be crowded once but weren’t as crowded now at any point of time. The surroundings of its route were no longer what they used to be, mostly overgrown wild plants and some buildings far away that were in need of repairs and some even abandoned. Amidst the rapidly developing world, the local trains were disappearing into a world that was slowly going out of sight.
Vidhi liked and disliked her co-passengers at the same time. She met them in the same train and in the same coach most of the days. Most of them were in their post-retirement work period, and they had much to say from the much they had seen and done, but then one day one of them would stop coming and would never come again.
The number of local trains had become fewer, and Vidhi knew an end would come to them considering the practicality of things and with all the plans of the high-speed train introduction by the government. So, Vidhi was making the most of what was remaining, she especially loved the part where the train curved and the sunlight entered in a manner that felt beautiful to her.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 