My train is running late by 10 hours now, people are either lazing around or are scrambling for charging their phones, some young men are staring at the delay on railway websites and apps. "How far is Allahabad now?" A question heard for the nth time since the last stop had passed, before this the question was in reference to Kanpur.
A middle aged man after hearing this question again began on a monologue. "There is no point in looking at your cellphones, and checking how far we are, it'll reach when it has to reach, be it 10 hours late or 20 hours late, if it doesn't have to reach it won't reach, this is the harsh truth, what is the point of cursing the driver or the railways, they are doing their job, we are away from ours and let's use this opportunity for the much needed time off we don't get, talk to each other, soon you'll get down on your destinations and you might never meet again. You're meeting new people, talk about experiences or just share jokes. I am 50 now and this young man is 18, I didn't meet him all these years, and I probably won't meet him again, but we have been having a conversation to remember, soon we'll get down on our destinations and we'll probably never meet again".
"Has Allahabad arrived?" A young woman interrupts the man with a loud yawn, clueless of the monologue.
The man is now on call, giving update to his relatives on how late the train is running and an optimistic update of when it'll reach our final destination.
The young men have again moved to their cellphones, checking the real-time movement of the train.
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