Pursuing Rajdhani

The mood was cheerful as the sun shined brightly in the morning. Everything was going on smoothly till we missed our pre-planned local train from Dombivli. As the train raced away from the sights, our heart sank. Our brains started the worst-case scenario’s Powerpoint presentation. If this local train was lost, then it meant we would lose the changing local train from Dadar Junction, which was supposed to get us to Mumbai Central. This in turn, meant we would eventually lose the Rajdhani. All the hours of planning and deciding which places to visit on our first trip to Delhi was going down the drain.

The mood was tense as we caught a slow train from Dombivli. This was going to take us a complete hour to reach Dadar. Calculating possible and easier routes was how we tried to keep the negative thoughts at bay. Each and every route’s time to reach was very crucial. Picturing every outcome of all the possible routes was how we kept ourselves engrossed. Even the sound of laughter had an undertone of nervousness.

As our local train halted at Dadar,we leapt and ran like the hellhounds were chasing us. Yelling and screaming, we zigzagged through the crowd. This heroic efforts led us to get the other local train for Mumbai Central at the last second. Calming our heartbeats, which sounded as if someone was beating the drums, we waited to see if our efforts were going to pay off.

But we were not out of the woods yet! As we were reaching our destined train, a Ticket Checker made us freeze to the ground. Remember the antics at Dadar of running and screaming? Well, we had forgotten to get local tickets in all that hustle! We took leave from him with less money in our pockets. We ran to the platform, panting. And lo and behold! There was our train, standing in all glory. And strangely, the Powerpoint presentation ended abruptly. Within few minutes of getting in the Rajdhani, the train started chugging away from the platform.

The mood was relaxed. Outside, the evening had a pleasant warmth with acres of greenery as far as the eye can see. We had finally made it through all the hurdles. Everything was alright now.