What do you seek?

29 സെപ്റ്റംബർ 2024 രാവിലെ 11:30ക്ക് യെശ്വന്ത്പുരിൽ നിന്ന് ബിക്കാനറിലേക്കുള്ള train കയറി. Solo ഒരുപാട് പോയിട്ടുണ്ടെങ്കിലും ദീർഘദൂര rail യാത്ര ചെയ്തിട്ട് കുറച്ചായി. I don’t know if it’s the thing with my memory, but I get a very novel, first timish feeling each time I get going on my own again. 

I think if someone wants to catch a glimpse of Indian rural life without breaking a sweat or stepping on bare earth, booking a long train journey in an AC compartment would be a great option. Takes one through a range of diverse terrains. 

At one of the stations, a female police officer came around and asked for my name, where I’m from and if I had any complaints. She also shared that I can call 139 if I face any problems and officials would come in at the very next station. 

The next morning was lovely. Washrooms were cleaner than the previous evening. Sunrise was brilliant, but being on the upper berth my only choice to see it through the train doors. 

Our country is beautiful and it would help to have a decent waste management system. It’s appalling how many slums are surrounded by landfills. I’m not sure if it became a slum first or a landfill first. But imagine if every Municipality or Panchayat competed to be the most hygienic and provide its citizens with basic life conditions. We could do so much as a community, yet we do so little.

Walked my way from the Bikaner station to my stay.

Day 1 of the Yatra, as I excitedly prepared to go to the venue and start this journey, a call came bearing a tragic news. Someone I called Amma, my Guru’s mother had passed. I was too far to get there before the funeral finished. I thought of the many times I’ve wanted to talk to her recently. The one time I called and didn’t get through. The many times I decided to call some other time. I was not in a place where I could process this grief.