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Visuals are normally images,
photographs or video footage. The title is disruptive, but eminently well
suited for the narration of what I had witnessed in a recent train journey. The identity of the train cannot be revealed in
order to protect the privacy of the actors.
The narrative begins from the
moment I had boarded the AC Chair car of the train from a very busy station in
Kerala. Soon after I had settled into my
seat I had observed a well dressed woman walking quickly out of the compartment.
The train was awaiting the signal to proceed.
As the train began to move I did
what I always do when I travel be it the train or the aircraft. I had immersed myself
in the book I was reading at that point of time. It is not something special.
Most of the travellers do it to while away the time.
The Ticket Examiner came to me
after around fifteen minutes of travel to verify the ticket. As he was going
through the documents a gentleman opened the door of the Chair Car and stood
there without closing the door. He was holding high his child and telling the
child to enjoy the cold. Bemused the Ticket Examiner told the gentleman to
close the door or else air-conditioning in the compartment would dissipate. The
Ticket Examiner moved on since he had to verify the documents of a long
list of passengers. The gentleman stood there without giving heed to the
instruction of the Ticket Examiner. He kept on holding the child up without
closing the door of the compartment. I was in a seat adjacent to the door. After
a while I requested him to close the door as hot air was rushing in. He kept on
there playing dumb. Later another irate passenger adjacent to the door told him
to come inside and close the door. The gentleman complied with the second
request. He came in with the child, closed the door and stood there leaning
against the door holding aloft the child.
He remained there for around ten minutes and then went out of the
compartment. It was obvious he did not have a valid ticket.
Soon after the Ticket Examiner
had gone to the next compartment the woman who had walked out of the
compartment stepped in and occupied a seat. Unfortunately for her she had to
vacate it as the occupant of the seat was another passenger. She stood there in
the compartment leaning against a seat for almost half an hour. At the next
station when the passengers in the adjacent seats had left and when no one had
arrived to occupy the vacant seats the woman had quietly slipped into one of
them.
Meanwhile the gentleman mentioned
earlier now came inside the compartment without the child and had occupied
another vacant seat. As the train was
stopping at different stations and passengers were boarding and departing the
Ticket Examiner made another of his rounds.
The gentleman quietly slipped out of the compartment.
The Ticket Examiner stared at the
woman. He asked her why she was sitting there without informing him. She
immediately handed over her ticket along with money for upgrading her ticket.
The Ticket Examiner issued the receipt.
Soon after the Ticket Examiner
had left the gentleman came in again with the child to occupy the seat he had
left on the arrival of the Ticket Examiner. Unfortunately a Civil Police
Officer was sitting there writing something. The gentleman walked through the
aisle and went out through the door at the far end. After a while he returned.
The Civil Police Officer had finished his job and had left by then. The gentleman
occupied the seat with the child once again and sat there for some time. He left the compartment after a while and did
not return.
The woman too left the train when
it stopped at another station.
Though
I had been immersed in my book I was enjoying the distractions.
