As the train approached Bangalore Cantonment, I took down my suitcase from the overhead rack and prepared to get down. A fellow passenger told me, “You said you wanted to go to Malleswaram. City station is closer to Malleswaram.” I said, “A relative will be waiting for me here. He said the train may take 20 minutes more to reach City station by which time we could reach Malleswaram from Cantonment station by an auto.” Cities with multiple railway stations cause confusion among newcomers and helpful fellow passengers sometimes aggravate the confusion.
Years ago, my father travelled from Coimbatore to Bangalore by Island Express to attend the wedding of a niece. His mother, who lived near Alwaye in Kerala, also boarded the ladies compartment of the same train. My father was carrying the entire lot of flowers and garlands needed for the wedding in two wicker baskets, since the price of flowers in Coimbatore was thought to be cheap. Father and grandmother were
supposed to get down at City station and go to the wedding hall. My father got down there and waited for the crowd to melt to locate grandmother.
There was no sign of the elderly lady and my father became jittery. He was also worried since he had enough luggage for two tickets and if he went alone to the exit, the ticket checker might charge for excess baggage. He was contemplating whether to lodge a police complaint about a missing person. A cousin who received him at the station helped him take the luggage out and escorted him to the wedding hall. He entered the hall in tears.
All the relatives who had assembled for the marriage started discussing the possibility of the old lady getting down at some wayside station mistakenly. Just then, an autorickshaw stopped at the entrance of the hall and out came the missing person to everyone’s relief. My enraged father questioned her as to where she detrained.
She explained, “I was advised by a well-informed fellow passenger to get down at Cantonment since it was closer to the mandapam described in the invitation card. I got down as told, but could not locate you. Luckily I had the invitation card with me. I showed it to a policeman. He put me in an autorickshaw and strictly told the driver to drop me at the wedding hall. So, I reached here safely.”
P Subramanian
Email: mailpsubramanian@gmail.com