Time goes by…..

The rain drops were pattering continuously against my window, as my bus made its way through the water logged roads of this city. Its been raining for the past couple of days, and will continue to do so for another couple of days to come. A holiday has been declared for schools and colleges, according to the female on the radio…As I close my eyes and lean back on the seat, I began to wonder how soon time is flying by..

I began to reminisce about my first year at college..One of the most memorable moments I have ever had in my life.It was Diwali season again , and we all had made arrangements for us to get to our places in a train – the superfast Intercity Express , at 2.30 PM..My favorite train… Like all diwalis, that year was no different. It was raining cats and dogs and all the roads and rails were waterlogged. But are we the ones who gave a damn about this ?? Nah…So we remained cool about the whole rain issue…Our classes were supposed to get over at 12 in the noon.But we took a special permission from our English lecturer and left for our hostels..and so begins the timeline.

11.15 – Wished everyone in my batch a very happy diwali and started off in style – myself, raghu, Shanmugam, and mita..

11.30 – we take our time and get ready..I began to pack my stuff only then..what the heck, the train was only at 2.30 , and there is a train to central from our college every 10 minutes..It will hardly be a half an hour journey..

12.00 – have a good lunch at the mess…

12.45 – start off for the railway station. We get the tickets and wait for the train..it might come any minute..

1.00– news begin to seep in , that the tracks at guindy are waterlogged and hence the trains might be delayed. We just take a look at each other. ‘ Lets wait ‘ , we all thought.

1.15 – patience pays..a BG( broad gauge ) train pulls into the station..Yippee, another half an hour and we are safely into the seats we have booked for ourselves..we smile at each other..’Thank God , we got one ‘ . But apparently God didn’t want that…’Not yet buddy’, He should have thought.

1.35 – the train was chugging along, nice and smooth..We pass the guindy station, and now we could see why the trains were delayed..The MG tracks were all under two feet of water..Atleast the BG line was working fine..

1.45 – The train pulls into Kodambakkam. Another couple of stops and we are Park station. The train, inspite of the torrential downpour, was running on time..

1.50 – The train still is at kodambakkam.. the signal was still in red. An express train might be crossing, we all thought. After all, a delay of five or ten minutes is normal..And we were just a few minutes away from our destination. .

1.55 – the train showed no signs of moving forward. We began to get restless..come on.what could be holding it so long ?? we peep out of the train , and find the driver standing out on the platform.. “ WTF is he doing there instead of driving the train ?? “ , I thought..So we all just go to him and ask him what was going on..He replied that he had no damn idea..Aah , crap….not now…

2.02 – we wait for the goddamn signal to turn green.. by now, many of the passengers had got down and begin to walk out of the station..we just keep staring at them, with no idea of what to do…

2.05 – “OK guys ” , Raghu says, “ I don’t think waiting here is going to help us catch the train.Lets take an auto or something “. We all accepted . And then we take a look at the road , and it struck us why we didn’t take the Rain God seriously. The road was flooded with water , and the damn water level rose to our waists..No exaggeration, it was upto our waists..We all let out a collective groan….

2.07 – Did we have an option ?? Nope..Cursing our fate, we collect all our luggage and decide to hit the road . One by one, we all enter it , and literally swim across it, with our baggage hanging around our shoulders and necks..Boy, do we deserve merit for that. .Luckily, it was flooded for only about some 50 metres !! And then we hit dry land.

2.10 – search for an auto. We were damn sure we were goin to miss the train..Should it come down to all this, I was asking myself..

2.12 – we get an auto..bargain with him and strike a deal..We cram ourselves into the machine..no time for personal comfort…we just packed ourselves into little spaces we got after we pushed in our stuff.

2.18 – we cross egmore station. Another ten minutes, and the train leaves without us..Drats..I keep my fingers crosses.

2.20 – Another red signal , this time, it was on a road..DAMN DAMN DAMN….

2.22 – The signal is cleared..Off we go again..

2.26 – Our Merc enters the railway station..Ah, here we are..But the worst isn’t over yet..

2.27 – This was the time on the clock at the station..we scramble to the display board, to find out the platform in which our train has been stationed..

2.28 – we run , across the station to our train…There it is , there it is..we shout to each other..

2.29 – the train was jam packed, and we squeeze our way through the crowd and reach our seats.

2.30 – we all heave a collective sigh of relief..WOW WOW WOW….High fives fly around..all of us were laughing..we have achieved the unthinkable…Hurray…

The engine acknowledged us by sounding its horn..The train began to move….