SLS Mirror March - April 2017 a | Page 26

Student Reection Night at the Railway Station Shantanu is extremely tired from the day he had. All he can now think of is catching the train and getting home and resting. He has no strength left in him to do anything else. He has been waiting for the train to come for the past half an hour. One can never say anything about the local trains, nowadays. They are hardly ever on time. Another half an hour passes. Thoroughly irritated now, he gets up to check why the train hasn't yet arrived or how long it will take for the train to nally reach the station. There is no ofcial in sight who he can ask about the train. He walks around for a while amongst the other passengers waiting for their respective trains and then spots a coolie. He questions the coolie about the train to which the coolie replies, "Arre saab, aap to galat station pe ho! Vo train to kabki station number 4 se nikal gai!" Cursing his fate, Shantanu goes to station 4 and asks an ofcial about any other trains that go to is destination. The ofcial says that there is no train going that way and he will have to catch a train the next morning. "I chose the perfect day to wait for the train on the wrong station like an idiot! Congratulations on missing the train, self", he retorts to himself. He decides to spend the night on the station so that he gets on the rst train homewards and also doesn't have to look for accommodations this late in the night. Gathering his belongings, he walks towards the resting room and sits there. Slowly, the railway station starts to get less crowded; the noise turns to a few murmurs here and there. As night creeps in, the railway station becomes isolated except for a coolie here and there. Shantanu can't sleep and starts thinking about random stuff while admiring the moon. Afterwards, looking around the railway station he realizes that the two phases in a railway station are extremely similar to the two phases in a human's life - the good and the bad. When there's daylight, the station is alive with the hustle bustle of people coming and going- exactly like good times in a human's life. The time is good, there's light everywhere and there are people surrounding the individual. The night time is the exact opposite of daylight. The station is empty, except for a coolie or two; completely silent- dead. Same goes for a human's life when there is the bad phase. Nobody really around to share what's happening, except for one or two people who genuinely care. Lost in these thoughts, he nally goes to sleep. The sound of a train arriving on the station wakes him up from his slumber. Realizing that this train will take him home, he quickly rushes to freshen up and boards the train. But he's already too late. The good seats have been taken and he has to 24