The couple in the train !

Train journeys have always fascinated me. Not so much for the comfort over road journeys as for the opportunity they offer in terms of uninterrupted time for doing some of my favourite things like reading a book and occasional people watching! I love observing my co-passengers in the train though I must say , I’d much rather nobody observe me .But I think the trick lies in just observing very, very discreetly ,without making it too obvious. Which is something which I have mastered over the years, thanks to the umpteen train journeys, albeit short ones.

So, last weekend I happened to be on the train home and even though it was just a 2 hour long journey, I was fully equipped with my book and my snack pack and butterflies in my stomach. Strange as it sounds, I always have those butterflies fluttering whenever I am excited about anything, be it something as plain and simple as a train journey that I must have undertaken at least 100 times till date. I had a reservation for one of the side berths in an AC 3 tier sleeper coach. I went and sat quietly in one corner of the lower berth and adjusted my belongings as best as I could(read: plopped up my duffel bag against the seat back so that I could rest my head and read my book until I get anything more interesting to engage myself with! ).

Soon, the train started chugging along but my seatmates were nowhere to be seen. I was slightly disappointed but then happy also at the prospect of being able to spread myself on the entire seat and read my book which I had been reading for the last two months (gasp!) and it was only then that it had reached an interesting point. But, alas, happiness was short lived!

Very soon, I was joined by a young couple and together they occupied a greater part of the berth and just like I had, adjusted their luggage here, there and everywhere. I could see from the way the girl was dressed that the couple was a newly married one. I was a little disappointed to be sharing my seat with two people who were in some way, one! I have nothing against couples travelling in trains but if I have to share a seat with them, I get a little uneasy as the dynamics and display of coupledom sometimes become so prominent and loud that they create a difficult situation for others around.Hence, I thought it best to bury myself in my book in this particular train journey.

But it seems the book was not interesting enough! As it often happens when we are with a group of people, this couple also tended to act as if they were in some sort of a quasi-private setting that gave them freedom to act and speak the way they wanted .They soon engaged themselves in their own conversation, totally oblivious of the people around them. Not to say that it was a bad thing to do but just to mention that the conversation soon became so loud that I could not help overhearing.And before I knew it, I found myself enjoying it too! They seemed to be talking about planning their future together. I tried my best to tear myself away from them but such was the power and freshness of their dreams for a happy future, that I got drawn into it more and more.

They spoke of their individual & collective dreams, their expectations from each other, how they thought marriage would change their lives, what adjustments they would need to make and how they would work towards making it a success for both of them. At one point, the girl expressed her desire to go on regular short vacations as she felt such breaks from routine would help strengthen their bond but the guy expressed his inability to take frequent leave from office, especially because it was a new job and he wanted to work hard to earn more for both of them. The girl, at first, could not understand his view point and this resulted in them bickering about it but soon they realised the futility of it and came to a conclusion to cross the bridge when they came to it. Then again, I heard them arguing over something and forgetting about it soon and entering into an agreement that whenever both of them are angry and fighting, one of them would make an explicit effort to end the argument even if they have not reached a solution.

Their conflict resolution logic seemed to be perfect, though slightly straight out of some “marriage counselling book “.It made me wonder at their sweet innocence, the faith they had in their bond at that point in time and how they trusted life to bring nothing that they would not be able to manage with love and patience for each other. Like all others at the beginning of a new journey, they seemed to be fully prepared to tackle it and enjoy it too and really did not have a plan for any contingency. Not even the alarmingly increasing divorce statistics in the country seemed to have had any power to arise any apprehensions in their minds as to the future of their marriage.


I must say I thoroughly enjoyed overhearing the bits of conversation from the couple in the train and it was one train journey which I will always remember for the power and magic of dreams that it reinforced. And also the fact that if one finds someone to share these dreams in the journey of life, the power becomes almost invincible!