A train to Kashmir

It was 4:15 AM. I booked an Uber and stood in front of my house waiting for the cab to arrive. The driver called and asked me for the exact location.
​' The location is on the GPS,' I said to him.
I looked at my location on my mobile.
​'But sir, I am at the location shown on my mobile.'
​'Oh! Sorry, man.' I said, 'I think the location is incorrect. Let me update it.'
I refreshed my location several times. The location did not change.
'I think my GPS is not working properly,' I said, 'Just come towards the Saint Mary school. I will meet you just in front of it.'
​'Okay, sir! He hung up the phone.
​It was a two min walk from my house. Well, I could not think of any other location to find. It's been more than 20 years since mobile phone manufacturer BENEFON launched the first-ever commercially available GPS phone in 1999. Still, it is not perfect, or maybe my internet connection is lagging. Anyway, one thing I have learned is that nothing in this world can be perfect. The same is true for humans.
​Honnnnnk !
​The cab arrived.
​'Hello, sir,' he said, 'I finally found you.'
​'hahaha! Well, of course, I said, " So, in how much time will we reach Delhi railway station ?'
​'50 mins approx', he said, 'so we will reach there by 5:20 AM according to the GPS.'
​“Well and good”, I said.
​
.......................................................................................
5:40 AM
I was on time. Vandey Bharat Express was on platform number 3. It's a long journey ahead. Walking in the aisle, I looked for my seat. There I was finally seated. It was a reclining seat, and it was comfortable. It reminded me of the Air India economy seat, since I went to Mombasa with my parents, I was 7 years old at that time. It was a long time ago. Well. Memories, just connect any similar experience and take you to different places. That's how we humans travel time. We can't amend any of it, but we can imagine and rejoice in the beautiful memories and sometimes feel sad.
​A man came along with a trolley distributing newspapers.
​'Sir Newspaper', he said.
​'Thank you, 'I said and asked, 'Do I have to pay for the paper? '
​'No, sir,' he replied.
​I started reading the headlines.
​'Kerala becomes the first state to pass a resolution against the CAA.’
​This was interesting. 'My journey towards Kashmir has started, I think', I murmured to myself in a low tone.
I glanced at the woman sitting in the seat in front of me, guess what! It was Pihu. I was surprised. “Hello!!! What a pleasant surprise, remember me?” I said.
She turned and looked at me. “Oh, my god!!! Rahul!! Of course, I remember you! It's been a long time.” She said, “It's been 8 years. It sure has been a long time.” I said.

Pihu: So, what are you doing these days? What takes you to Kashmir?

​Rahul: I am pursuing LLB and preparing for government exams. I am going to Kashmir for my clerical-level exam at CBSE. What about you?

​Pihu: That's good. I am going for a solo trip.
​
Rahul: Solo trip! That's great. So what are you doing these days?

​Pihu: I completed my BSc a few years back and am working at Moon Beverages as a quality control executive.

​Rahul: That's great. So, have you been in touch with Ritik or Jasmin?

​Meanwhile, a man came up in the aisle and disrupted our conversation. “Sir, breakfast.” He said, and kept a big plastic plate wrapped up with thin polythene on the food tray. And I was hungry!
Meanwhile, I finished eating, while Pihu was still eating. I started reading the newspaper. “ CAA 2019 protests get violent in Assam.”
“ I don't understand why they are even protesting,” I murmured to myself.

​Pihu: Well, do you know why these people are protesting ?

​Rahul: Of course!!, they don't like the government in power. The Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 provides citizenship to the illegal immigrants of 6 religious groups; Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Christians and Parsis, who are from countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before 31st Dec 2014. You know how the minorities in these countries are treated. They live a tormented life there, that's why they have to leave these countries!!! Now tell me, is giving shelter to helpless people wrong ?'

​Pihu: No. It's not wrong. But what about Muslims? Why are they excluded from the list? You know what, I think this is a form of discrimination. This is the first law of our country, which provides citizenship based on religion. This does break the secular fibre of our country. This ignites fear among the minorities living in this land. People just see the exclusion of their religious people because they are in the minority here. This further incites an existential crisis in their head, which leads them to protest, and I think it is not a wrong move to protest peacefully.'

​Rahul: 'They are excluded from it because they are in the majority in these countries, they don't face any prejudices in their country, but other minority religious groups do. And you know how these people are protesting. They are being violent. That's not how you protest.'

​Pihu: 'Okay, I agree the way of protests practised is not right, but even the Muslim community in Muslim states such as Pakistan and Afghanistan faces prejudices. Take, for example, Ahmadiyyas and Hazaras of Pakistan and Afghanistan, respectively. These communities are discriminated against and are persecuted in their own country. Now, don't you think these people could have been included in the CAA? You know, in our Indian culture, we believe in "Vasudaiva Kutumbakam: the world is a family". So, differentiating between religions is kind of against our culture.'

​Rahul: 'I know Indian culture welcomes everyone, 'he said, 'But you have to be practical here. If everyone is allowed citizenship here, then we will be outnumbered here. And for your information, there is still a provision for attaining Indian citizenship for other people from any religious group.'

​Pihu: You won't listen, would you! Still as stubborn as before!!

​Rahul: Okay, I get what you mean. Let's change the topic. So, did you meet anyone from school time?

​Pihu: Well, Ritik, Jasmin and Pawas were in my college.
​The moment I heard her say Ritik's name,
I felt resentful.

Rahul: So, tell me about Ritik. Did he get over his social phobia? Especially gynophobia? What about Jasmin? Did Jasmin talk to him?

​Pihu: Well, I don't think he had a social phobia as such. I mean, he talked to a few people, and he had friends. He talked to me on Facebook, though. Yet it was like he talked to some people, but he could not talk to others. He was an introvert, actually. And it is an interesting story of how he talked to Jasmin.

​Rahul: What! He talked to Jasmin. That's..... I mean.....how? 

​Pihu: Relax, man. It's an interesting story. Let me tell you their story first. Ritik used to look at her but avoided eye contact. Maybe because he was afraid of what her reaction might be after knowing that he stared at her because he had no idea that she liked him. Let me tell you about the first instance when she tried to talk to him. Jasmin told me about the first instance when she tried talking to him. It was the second semester when one day she decided to talk to him after reading the message he sent her on Facebook. I don't know what exactly the message was, but he told me why he messaged her. The day before the first instance, a guy named Rajesh, Ritik's classmate, was saying that he liked Jasmin. Ritik instantly, without having a second thought, told him,” I liked her since we were in class 10th.” Rajesh said to him, "Look at your height, man, you are shorter than her.” This incited him to message her through Facebook. And the tragic thing is that Jasmin told me that she will never talk to him on Facebook or text; she wanted to talk to him face to face. So this is what happened. She stood in front of his classroom after the second lecture. He came out of the classroom and saw her standing there in front of him. He did not say anything; he just stared at her. I think he froze. Because he could not utter a word, he stood in front of her for a few moments, then he quickly walked past her. One thing was sure, Jasmin was sure that he liked her, but she was not completely into him.
​