Train of curiosity

I got into the extremely crowded railway station. Chennai central. I checked my ticket thrice. Got there an hour early. Platform number 4. Good. Now, I got to find a place for me to sit. After a roaming twice around the crowded platform, with all my heavy luggage, I found a place near a small family. Just mother, father and two toddlers. Even better. Maybe I will just interact with them.

With a smiling face, I set my luggage in front of me and sat down. The afternoon sun was getting the worst out of me. My T-shirt was already soaked in sweat. I looked at my watch once again. Fifty minutes more. I straightened my hair a bit. Maybe I will interact with the elder toddler.

"Hey what's your name?" I asked.
"Never talk with strangers." a horrible voice came from my backside. As soon as the words were spoken, the little girl jerked away as if I were a terrible disease.

I turned back and saw an old mother whose mouth was completely red with tobacco. As I looked, she spit it on the concrete floor in front of her. Indian style. Yuck.
Her face was highly creased. Her ear lobes were enlarged due to the weight of her earrings. Her bright coloured cotton sari was carelessly draped. She was looking at me with her angry eyes.

Apparently, I had mistaken. The entire family, (along with a half dozen, that sat behind me which I had failed to notice before) was looking at me with angry eyes.

Now, I felt too guilty to sit there. From when did "what's your name" become a sinful approach? Maybe I should switch seats. I got up, rushed through the crowd and reached another spot.

Forty minutes more. A group of youngsters were swarming around a pillar. I squinted my eyes and read "Mobile charging point". That explains it.

I wiped the sweat out of my brows. A scholarly gentleman was now sitting next to me. He was reading some book. Maybe I will try to talk with him about the book. I tried to peep into his book. He did the most unexpected thing. He closed his book with a bang and walked away. Great. Thirty minutes more.

I went to the nearby tea stall and had a cup of tea and then got back to my place. With complete emptiness at heart, I stared at the bright yellow cyclop that was painted on the opposite wall.

I do not remember when or how I fell asleep. I was awakened by the train arrival announcement. Within a few minutes, the train started.

Our compartment was a bit lonely. The train was dirty as usual. Sunlight filled the room with it's ruthless heat. The fan above, fulfilled it's duty by circulating the hot air around. I looked at the ceiling. It needed some good painting. The walls were completely covered with advertisement posters and doodles.

An elderly man sat opposite to me reading an English daily. His rectangular spectacles sat at the end on his long crooked nose. His spectacles were thick were badly scratched with age. But he did not seem to mind it a bit. His black eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles under them. His wavy hair almost reached his shoulders and it was half black and half grey. His hairline was receding fast. His face was starting to wrinkle almost everywhere. He wore a neatly ironed white kurta paired with white pants.

I sat there trying to calculate his age. Maybe he was as old as my father. Around 55. Once in a while, he put his paper down, closed his eyes, folded his hands and sat just like that. Maybe meditation? Well, I do not know what he thought or did for he sat doing almost nothing.

With two awkward conversations just before boarding the train, I was a bit hesitant to make another one. Maybe I should talk about some neutral topic. Like what? Weather would be good I decided.

"Such a hot weather, isn't it?" I asked.
"What else do you expect in summer?" he responded with a little curl at the end of his mouth. Just a curl. Not a complete smile.

In such a world where people complain almost about everything, he accepted life as it was. Such a good thing I thought.

"Where are you going, sir?" I asked.
To this, he put his paper down and glared at me. His eyes were peering above his spectacles. Sharp eyes I noticed.

"To some place interesting." he replied.
 I did not expect such an answer.
"And where is that place supposed to be?" I asked.

Now, he smiled.
"You are such a curious fellow, aren't you?"he asked.
"Huh?"
"I noticed the way you looked around." he said.
"I hope curiosity is not a bad thing." I said.
"No. Not at all." he said "If necessity is the mother of invention, then curiosity is the mother of discovery."

He stared at me for sometime and then continued.

"Curiosity is like a little child. Knows no good and no evil." Now, he turned and stared at the window smiling. His smile spread to his eyes. With the smile, his eyes looked much better and younger.

"It never knows what the box holds." he said.
"What box?" I asked.
"Pandora's box. What else?" Now, he was laughing.
I remembered Adam's apple. Or should I say, Eve's apple?

"Just like Eve eating the fruit of good and evil." I said.
"You are smart too. They contain the same moral don't they?" he said.
"So, is it better not to be curious?" I asked.
"No. The moral is, curiosity may bring evil too. But it is a God given blessing. We got to nurture it and never be afraid of what we may find." he laughed again. "Aren't the most worst things already found? I believe that we can never find something even worse."

Now, I was immersed in deep thoughts. I do not know how time fleeted. It was almost night now. He made a proposal.

"Would you like to see this interesting place I spoke about?" he asked.
"Would love to." I replied.
"Then why don't you come with me?" he asked.

For some time, I thought of my destination. And then said "Yes."

I later learned that, he used to book his tickets to unknown places, go there, find friends, learn new things and enjoy life as it is.

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It is now almost years since we both met. Now, I have been to many places. Grew up learning things from different perspectives. Above all, nurtured my curiosity.