That Night!

Life is ridiculous, those were the words, Sameer gaffed while boarding the Ola. After been denied by 3 drivers, he was finally boarding a cab. The anxiety level was high, he had only 30 minutes to catch the train. The chance of catching the train was fading with every minute passed. This was the only option tonight, otherwise, this will be another Sunday without family. He is a busy traveler as often the business priorities tangle him. These 30 minutes were like an entire life.

Finally, it was 5 minutes for the train to leave the station and luckily, he was on the train at the right coach. It was 10:55 pm, he was traveling in an AC coach. The lights were off, most of the co-passengers were already drowned, the snoring of few could loudly be heard.

The chase made him complete sweat. He parked his luggage beneath his berth and came out to wash his face. The tap water was hot, salt on the wounds. He chose his mineral water bottle, slightly cooler than the option he had. The train started slowly, he smirked. Finally, he was leaving, leaving for home, sweet home.

Suddenly, he saw a mid-aged couple running on the platform, alongside his coach. The guy was holding a little baby girl. They appeared as money left them at abeyance. The train got faster, so does their run. Most likely, the couple was to miss the train. Sameer's feebleness made him sorry, he wanted them to board for their destination. He wished if God could have been kinder.

Sameer sensed some weight on his hand. The guy literally threw the baby from at least 5 feet, perhaps for their ease to board next. Sameer wasn't good at cricket. Howsoever, he caught the baby girl, quite safely. The train was getting faster, it left the platform behind, the poor couple was still short to catch it.

Sameer was shocked, there was an unknown baby in his hands. He couldn't throw the baby back as the couple can't be seen. He was stone freeze; there were mixed emotions of anger and sadness. How could somebody even throw their baby this way? The baby was crying, Sameer was still out of his mind. He was still gulping what just happened. His mind was clueless, couldn't for a moment this emergency chain option caught his attention.

He sat at the door with this crying baby. He wanted to cry along with her. His mind was looking for options to regroup the baby's family. The train caught its full speed; the horn was anguishing him. He wanted to get down at the next station but still clueless about how he would reach back to this station at midnight. He was a stranger to this area. The linguistic challenge made it more difficult. How will he catch his flight if he will miss this train?

The night was hard, his sadness replaced the fatigue. The winds were fazing his sweat, but the rolling tears were orphans.

India's public transport availability is abysmal to its population. Our metro cities offer only 100-200 public transport buses per million population. Around 55,339 railway coaches carry over 25 million passengers every day. Most of us blame the population for poor infrastructure, however despite being the most populous country, Beijing alone, offers 1,710 buses per million population.