Lonavala To Thane

7:00 PM but pitch dark it was due to heavy rains, a barely crowded train stood between Malavi and Lonavala train station giving way to the overcrowded Intercity Express to pass.

Why God why, the only words that came to my mind. It was all so well planned, I was supposed to be at Lonavala railway station at 6:30 and get in the 6:47PM Intercity Express to reach Dadar.

The rains and traffic is a never-ending love story which we all hate, in a situation like this, I hated it much more.

As the Intercity Express passed, my train moved on, my mind had lost all hopes but my heart still wished... Please make the Intercity Express wait for me at Lonavala, make the signal Red.

Amidst these thoughts I reached Lonavala Station, only to see the Intercity Express move just ahead of me. Clueless I got down at Lonavala, What's the plan I asked myself.. going back to Pune was last on my list.

Lonavala Station, a dream place to visit in monsoons was so deserted, now that all trains had already gone. At a distance stood a woman, maybe her planning went wrong like mine, we looked at each other and smiled.

Hustling a train came by and stood at the station, the woman now came near me and looked on the train to find someone to inquire about the train, most of it was empty and at the very end of that compartment was a family.

"Where does this train go, does it stop at Thane?"

LTT, yes it stops at Thane...the man of the family replied.

Without a second thought, the lady climbed in the train and looked at me.

A deserted Platform, a deserted Train, random strangers, rainy night...all logic died what was I supposed to do, I am not the one who makes instant decisions but the train whistle blew and I had to make that decision right there.

I got in, sat there wondering where was my journey going.. the lady started chatting with the family members. It was a small family, parents, and their two daughters.

The train moved, the night grew darker, it was around 10:30 that I reached Thane, I bid goodbye to the family and walked on the platform towards a new journey from Thane to Dadar.

That day taught me, not all decisions are to be taken with logic and analysis, because even well-planned things fail to execute and not planned ones, execute successfully. Just trust your instinct and go for it.