A Scene at a Railway Station

I had gone to the railway station to receive my father who was coming from Mumbai by the Rajdhani Express.

The scene at the railway station appeared to be one of utter confusion. A couple of trains were late by an hour and people were cursing the Indian Railways at the top of their voices. There was a family with four children sitting on their luggage waiting for their train. The male member of the family kept going to the inquiry to find out how long the train had been delayed. He cursed the inefficiency of the service, for each time he was informed of a further delay in the train. The children harassed the parents asking for water, a cold drink, toffees, and chocolates.

The platform was crowded with people. There were those who had to catch a train and there were those who had merely come to see off or receive a friend or relative. It was easy to distinguish the travelers from those who had come to receive or see off people. For the latter category of people were more glamorously dressed, whereas the travelers appeared to be in simple clothes to be comfortable in their journey.

The loudspeaker clanked and announcements were made about the arrival and departure of a series of trains. Everyone strained their ears to hear the announcements which were made both in Hindi and English. There were many who could not follow and asked each other about their respective trains. I learned to my dismay that Rajdhani Express had been further delayed. In the meantime, a train arrived and at once there was a mad rush on the part of the people and coolies with luggage on their heads trying to get in. At the same time, passengers trying to get out pushed those trying to enter. Soon everyone settled down and the train departed slowly with people waving to their friends and relatives.

Once again I stood there observing the scene around. There was a man who luggage a coolie had apparently carried in from the taxi bargaining loudly. I wondered why, when that man could dress so well, he has bothered about paying an extra rupee to the poor coolie.

The coolies settled down in little groups or sat alone dressed in their red kurta and white dhoti, to wait for the next train. Flies buzzed on little bits of rubbish banana peel here, a toffee wrapper there which people had carelessly thrown. There was a cacophony of sounds with the hawkers vying with each other in being heard above the noise of the crowds and the whistles of the trains coming in and going out of the various platforms. The platform was filthy with dirt and flies, and I wished the train would arrive soon so that I could leave just then the loudspeaker blared again and announced the arrival of the Rajdhani Express and I uttered a prayer of thanks. The train soon arrived, once again there was a mad rush of coolies and other people trying to get in and get out. My father waved to me from the door of the train before jumping out with his bag.

On my way out of the mad scene, I wished there could be a rule preventing people from entering the platform to merely see off or receive passengers. At last, the crowds would be reduced, and perhaps it would be easier to keep the platform cleaner. I reached the taxi with my father hoping it would be a long time before I would have to come to the station again.