Kashmir to Kanyakumari

I went there on a journey but it turned into an adventure.

I couldn't sleep last night, I was all excited. I kept lying on the bed with my red eyes open till one minute before the alarm rang. I got up and began to keep all my belongings in the suitcase.  I live alone, I don't have parents and I don't even want them. I like being alone. I just don't understand why are people afraid of being alone and lonely. I enjoy my life fully. But sometimes, something seems missing...I don't know what.

I booked a taxi to the bus stop. I sat on my seat as the ticket checker checked my ticket. The bus stopped for a while for all the passengers to come. 

It was a narrow bus with an air conditioner. The two rows of seats lay parallel to each other. Each row contained nine couples of seats next to the window covered by the curtains. I sat down after adjusting my bags under my foot.  The person sitting next to me was a child. She was very suspicious. I tried to talk to her, but she didn't reply. She just ignored me and acted like she didn't hear me. I took a nap after being humiliated by a child.

My sleep was distributed by a little quake. The conductor said that we can go to the washroom or to eat food as the bus will be stopped for fifteen minutes. Everyone got out except for the suspicious kid. I returned with two cups of tea and offered one to the kid. She remained silent and gave me a death stare. I was quite scared but I didn't show it. I sat on my seat minding my own business. She kept looking at me with his mouth drooling. I once again offered her the tea, this time she snatched it from my hands coldly.

She drank it in one to two gulps and threw the earthen cup out of the window breaking it.

"Hey!" She said in a sweet voice that didn't match her character at all.

"... Thank you..." She spoke it in such a tone as somebody was forcing her to say it.

" Ugh... you're welcome" I replied.

She then gave me a little smile. The bus restarted. I kept looking at her from time to time. After a while she was asleep. 

I was going to reach my stoppage in approximately fifteen minutes. But I was worried about the child because there were some gang at the backside of the bus.

I decided to get off at the stoppage of the child, making sure that she is safe. Almost all of the stoppages had passed. I, then gently, woke up the little sleeping child. She woke up in a panic. I told her to calm down. 

She went pale as I asked her about her stoppage. 

"Actually I...umm...I don't know!"

"So... you are lost?" I asked.

"No... actually I...ran away from home!"

"You what!"

My mind was completely blank. I was alone on a bus with a girl who ran away from her house! 

"Would you like to come with me?... I will drop you at your place." I asked even though I don't know why I asked.

"No." She replied.

"I can go by myself."

"Listen, you are a child and there are many bad people roaming around," I explained.

She stared at me with doubtful eyes. After some time she agreed.

We slept as it was already midnight. The next morning was a pleasant day. The sun was shining through the dense cloud. It was a cold morning.

We stepped out of the bus. A cold breeze ran touching our skin smoothly. It was so refreshing. 

We began to walk towards the station. I asked her where is her home. The reply made me go crazy. She said that she lives in Kanyakumari, and we were in Kashmir. What could be a more good condition? 

I was thinking about it and it started raining. We hushed under a little bus stop until the rain stopped.  The weather became nicer after the rain. We took a bullock cart to the nearby village as she seems to be tired. It was dusk. The sky was as yellow as a marigold. The sunlight fell on the mustard field making it look like an ocean of melted caramel. The birds were too loud and the place was too quiet and calm with fresh air mixed with the scent of wet soil.  As we reached the station, I asked the child for her parent's phone number. But she said that she won't remember it. I was just too fed up.  We bought two tickets for a train to Delhi, from there we would be taking a bus to Kanyakumari. I didn't tell her where we were going as she ran from her house so she probably didn't want to go back. I decided to keep it a secret. 

We waited for the train for a while. Then a horn from far away alerts the people at the station. They were ready with their bags. As the train stopped, we rushed to our seats being merged with the crowd. At the last, we finally succeed to secure our seats. 

"Why did you run away from your home?" I asked.

"Umm... because...my parents...had a divorce and my mother married another man." She replied with her eyes full.

I was very sad to know that and I don't know what to say in these types of situations. 

"I am sorry...I didn't know." I said.

The sun disappeared and the moon rises up. The child was already asleep. I was lying with my eyes closed, hearing the relaxing sounds of the railway track. 

It was dawn, I woke up the little friend. She went to the washroom. I was already ready with the bags. Approximately fifteen minutes later, we reached the station. We then bought a ticket to Kanyakumari. We took a taxi to a hotel. The way there was full of traffic. We slept in two different rooms. The next day we went to the station. Again, we got on to a train. 

On the way, we played too many games with the other passengers. We listened to music and stared at the beauty of nature. The cows were grazing. Beautiful trees of different shapes and sizes were passing behind. The children were playing. The sun slowly went down. 

"We had arrived at the station," I said.

We carried our luggage out. We began to leave the station when the girl's eyes dropped to the board.

"K-A-N-Y-A-K-M-R-I." She readout.

"You liar!" She screamed in slight fear.

"No, you got me wrong..."I said.

She took a few steps backwards and began to run. I ran behind her. After some time, she was lost from my sight. I tried looking for her but she was gone. I realised that I don't even know her name so that I could find her. After some time of running, I saw a poster. I took a closer look. I figured out that it was the same little girl. 

The poster mentioned her name-'Aryahi Mishra.' It was also written that she was a daughter of a rich politician. After a few miles of running, I stopped at a little tea stall. After drinking a few gulps, I saw a little girl in a telephone booth. She caught my eyesight because I thought that I have seen her anywhere.

After realising that she is Aryahi, I rushed to the booth, spilling the tea over. She tried to run after she saw me coming for her. But I was so fast that she didn't get a chance to run. I hurried and entered the telephone booth.  She looked worried and afraid, so I gave her a tight, warm hug. She was a little calmed down. I then asked her about her address. After three times of asking, she replied-

"Azhikkal..."

I booked a taxi at the address she told me. We had arrived outside her house. We could hear loud crying from inside. She was afraid to go inside. I explained to her and calmed her down. The first sight we saw when we entered the house was her parents crying. They hugged their daughter as they saw her. They promised to be together from now on.

They thanked me. 

"Bye, Aryahi!"I said.

"Bye!" She shouted loudly after giving me a soft, sweet smile.

I have never travelled a whole country before with a partner. I, now think that it's better to live with someone important than to live alone. 

I have always thought ill of India. I thought that it was a place where poor and uneducated people live. But I never imagined that it could be such a beautiful and wonderful place. All the states are different and have different qualities, but I observed that whether it's Kashmir or Kanyakumari 'Chai' is common and cricket is life. People of any age are playing cricket in any street you see.