When I set out two hours in advance to catch my train, a neighbour asked, “Why are you going so early?” I said, “City roads are jam-packed with vehicles throughout the day. It is safe to start early and reach the railway station well in time rather than go late, get tensed or miss the train altogether.”I know a few friends and relatives who believe in reaching the railway station in the nick of time and jumping into the train.
My friend Selvan believed in reaching the station at the last minute on quite a few occasions. Selvan has great faith in city traffic that he starts at the last minute for the station. The only occasion he caught his train comfortably was when the departure of the train was delayed by half an hour.My cousin Srini is another one who doesn’t believe in spending a long time waiting for a train at a station. Once he came to my place late in the evening and said that his train was in the morning. So he thought of spending the night with me. He suggested that we go to a restaurant.
We had dinner at a restaurant on the then Mount Road. Then he suggested that we could watch a movie. I said, “Your train is at 6 am. Wouldn’t you like to sleep and get up early in the morning?” He said, “No problem. I am used to sleeping late.” But my cousin forgot to mention that he was not an early-riser. We went to a late night show at a theatre on Mount Road. In those days, Tamil movies were long. By the time we finished the movie and went home it was 2.30 am. After that Srini and I chatted for a while and slept off. Around 6 am, a flustered Srini woke me up and said, “Let us hurry to the station.” Alas, by the time we reached Central Station, his train had left. Srini had to look for alternative trains to reach Coimbatore the next day.
In fact, there have been times in the past when I could catch a train on time, but would not be sure of when I would reach my destination. During a summer vacation, I obtained a student concession voucher from my school which enabled me to travel by a passenger train. The journey to Kerala took 24 hours, because passenger trains stopped at all stations on the way and gave way to other express and mail trains. By the time, I reached my grandparents’ home, they were about to have a nervous breakdown. Who would not have a seizure if a grandson who was supposed to reach their place yesterday arrives today?