Continuing from where I left off. The thief crossed the tracks and ran away and left me

standing on the platform ,short of breath and feeling totally stupid that I had gone through

this ordeal for nothing !! I started making my way back to my compartment, and the policemen

were still sipping tea and talking among themselves , apparently about something funny, coz

they were laughing out loud ..I looked at them with contempt but I knew my limits..at the

end of the day , they are on the right side of the law..so I restricted myself to giving

them only "the look of contempt" although "telling them they were number 1" with my finger

crossed my mind many times..:) ..when I reached the compartment, my co passengers were

waiting at the gate, and the old man asked " beta , pakda ??" ..I nodded my head in

dissent..and surprisingly , they all nodded their head in sheer

disappointment..disappointment with me that I did not catch him and that they had lost their

money!! they all retreated back to their seats , few of them murmuring that I should have

run faster and caught him ..one old man even said " main tumhari umar ka hota , toh jhat se

pakad leta"..I said " lekin aap NAHI ho, aapki umar bhaagne daudne ki nahi rahi".i was

already quite pissed and my curt reply kinda quietened him...

Anyways , the journey started, it was damn hot..the peak of summer, in a 2nd class

compartment, packed with people , is not at all pleasant!!I dozed while sitting..I was

sitting on the side seats, meant for two people..when I woke up I found 5 people sitting

there and 6 people on the berth above..the heat was getting to me, I did not feel like

eating , coz of the stench of sweat from all these people..and to TOP that, the toilet was

malfunctioning and everything that was meant to be inside the toilet was slowly leaking out

..I tried hard to fall asleep again ,but couldn't..moreover this man sitting next to me was

slowly conquering more space on MY seat..I asked him politely " aap kahan tak jaoge ??" ..he

said something and then his face came a few inches closer to my face, cocked his head and

asked in a gruff voice " TU kidhar jaa riya hai ??" ..needless to say, the conversation was

over..this guy was not going to budge from my seat, I resigned to that fate..as time passed

by, it got hotter..the water I had bought was over..I ate a few biscuits and immediately I

felt like puking ..while I was trying to control that, these people , one after the other

started taking off their shirts coz of the heat and sat bare-chested, proper villager

style..and villagers don't use deodorants..I was giving it my all not to puke all over the

place..there was already enough filth around !!! . I went to the washbasin and put water

over my head lotsa times, but to no avail..I still felt the same..I came back to my seat,

closed my eyes and thought I should just accept these things instead of fighting them ..and

15 minutes later, if u would have walked into the compartment , u couldn't have spotted the

city boy( me ) from the folks there, coz I was sitting without my shirt , wearing a wet 

"gamcha (towel)" around my head , just like those people, and talking in their tone saying "

DIlli jaa riya hoon " ..The adaptation was complete..

I've always been proud of the fact that I can adapt according to the situation, I can handle anything ! well, this ability was stretched to the limit on my journey home from Kolkata..it was the month of June, it was seething hot and I could manage only a 2nd class ticket on a 3rd class train ..being a typical south Indian, I reached the station one hour early..If you want to feel good about yourself, if u want to forget all your miseries, then come to Howrah station, there is so much poverty so much hopelessness, u'll automatically feel good about your life..I think most people who join NGO's in Kolkata , do that after witnessing the scene at this railway station!! in my case , neither am I THAT sensitive to human suffering , nor is my life so full of problems..so I just sat and observed..the train came , right on time !! I found my seat , pushing the hordes of people aside..going to the gym has its advantages :)..people travelling with me were :- 1.a vegetable seller with a huge sack , presumably full of vegetables. 2.an old man and his daughter who was a nursing mother , with a wailing child ..3.an old couple, and one look at the man and I could tell that I was not going to get any sleep at night , he looked like a typical "snorer"..big beard , moustache, beer belly..I can't sleep even if there's the slightest sound of a snore..yeah, and I'm writing about my adaptation skills..anyways .time passes by ,its been an hour more than the scheduled departure time, and the train is still sitting at the station..Suddenly a man comes, wearing the sort of uniform the train attendants wear, and says " there's some problem in the pantry..there won't be any lunch..if you want lunch , pay me right now and i'll give you a lunch packet" ..there were a few murmurings but people gave him money..for some reason ,i felt i shud eat the chips and sandwiches i had bought for lunch ..as soon as he took the money, he turned and started running..WITH THE MONEY!..now since my co passengers weren't in any condition to give him a chase ( old men and women , nursing mother, and an uninterested vegetable seller ) , they all imploringly looked at me to give him a chase, "betaaa, pakdo , chor"..fuck!! ...i started the chase, he was out of the compartment, i was still in the middle , jostling and pushing people aside and yelling "chor"..finally got out of the compartment, i could see him running in the distance, i ran after him like a lion running after deer, yelling "pakdo , chor"..i was gaining on him ..he looked back and then ran faster..there were a couple of policemen, drinking tea and while running i looked at them , pointed at the thief and yelled " chor " and they just shrugged their shoulders..with a resounding " bh*****d ", i ran faster, but then came the sucker punch ..he jumped on to the tracks and crossed over and there was a train slowly chugging into the station .. my logical brain kicked into action.."wat the hell man, it's not even MY money he is stealing .."..the chase ended..but the story hasn't..watch this space..