Small things are the ones which make big differences...

Small things are the ones which make big differences...

Crossing miles...then and now!

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.”  

 - Robert Louis Stevenson

During those childhood days holidays always meant travelling which in turn always meant travelling by train. Tickets would be bought way in advance and we would start counting days!!! The night before the journey would generally be a sleepless one! Early morning Mum would pack luchis and sabji enough to last us for three days! The long wait for the train at the station would be so painful until we saw the train marching to the platform slowly, emitting white smoke and hooting! The sight would at once bring forth a skipped heartbeat and make me soo happy...As we boarded the freshly cleaned train, we would start eyeing the snacks and the crisps in Mum's biig shopper bag but were not allowed to touch them before the train began to move!!!

I remember waiting with baited breath for the feriwallas to come and display the various products from their kitty. The colourful drinks, the different eatables, the various kinds of toys, stationery, knick-knacks, comic books, magazines...everything seemed to be so attractive, so real and near-fetched! The journey itself would be so memorable...the train would meander past the green lands, the grey mountains, the sparkling rivers and the thatched houses! Mum would ask us to look out of the window, feel the warm air, witness the last orange and purple strokes of day light on the grey clouds.

 

It used to be beautiful...

Of course time has changed...and so have I. These days whenever I have to travel by train, I feel a tinge of disappointment within me! Who has the time to spend an entire day travelling when there is so much more to do? Why go on a tired and gruesome journey when I can reach a destination in a jiffy comfortably by air!

Train journeys now seem so long and boring! I get restless every time it takes longer than usual for the train to leave a platform. I dread the smelly washrooms in the train and deny myself of water through the entire journey! Sometimes when Mamma calls asking how far I have reached, that's when I look out of the window...because I have no clue...I was busy catching up on movies on my laptop! I do not talk to my co-passengers unless they do...and generally give them a cold shoulder if they get too chatty!!! The jhal muris and the bread omlettes do not leer me any more, in fact they give me jitters!!!... I bring my own salads and sandwiches neatly wrapped in aluminium foils!!! And at night, after a tiresome week at work, I sleep...

But I know this...

In the middle of the night when everybody else has drawn their curtains, turned off the lights and gone to a deep slumber (some snore!!), the noisy children have at last snuggled close to their mother...pass the dark long corridor and find yourself at the door...The train must be pacing real fast through an unknown land, through the dark meadows...you can see nothing except for a few speck of light at a far distance...You feel that you are the only one awake in the world, riding away from the hustle bustle of busy life into a eloquent peaceful paradise!

Or get up early morning...when the first gleam of sunlight have hit the horizon, when the train is rejuvenating at a junction after an incessant sprint...the chaiwallas have just opened their bundees, the smell of fresh boiling tea lingers throughout the platform. Step down and enjoy the serenity of being in a far unknown amidst strangers!

The train journeys do not stop marveling us...giving us those same reasons to enjoy a ride...again and again...The feriwallas, the scenery outside the window, the platforms and the co-passengers have not changed a bit!

We have...

 

Small things are the ones which make big differences...: Memoirs of a novice Blogger...

Some candid confessions! Fresh from the desk of a novice Blogger! Catch my latest content 'Memoirs of a novice Blogger' on youmelifeetc.blogspot.in! Cheers! Shayoni :-)

Small things are the ones which make big differences...: Memoirs of a novice Blogger...: For the past few days I have been searching for inspiration...Many of you bloggers might not agree with me here but I tell you...the job of...

Memoirs of a novice Blogger...

For the past few days I have been searching for inspiration...Many of you bloggers might not agree with me here but I tell you...the job of a Blogger is way too difficult! Sometimes I find it extremely challenging to write...to write about something which does not move my heart or stir my soul! Yeah it true...emotions need to flow for me to pour it out!
Some days I make all attempt...cancel my evening hangout with friends, take a quickie slumber, freshen up, grab a cup of coffee and switch on my laptop! My fingers eventually find its way to log onto Facebook...ohh no wait! I stop myself! "Get a grip girl! You are a blogger! Better behave like one!" I open my blog, scrutinize the layout and design and promise myself to come up with a better and customized one...ONLY after I write something! I create a new post and then...I start thinking! I stare at every possible objects in the room, try to think about anything interesting that might have happened over the past few days...I think hard...The itch to scribble increases, I write ramdom stuff...and delete and rewrite...I find them oddly pathetic and plain jane and before long I chuck my blogging plans and catch up on the last season of The Big Bang Theory!!! Past midnight...guilt drizzles in! I feel like killing myself for wasting half a day and not coming up with a content!

And then not to mention, the peer pressure!...my co-bloggers often ask me about what's cooking in my mind of late and sometimes all I say is, "Ummm...you know I have been really really caught up! Haven't had a chance to sit down at it! But I'm planning to...yeah...very soon...a superb thought has just struck me!"

And then...my Whats app status immediately changes from 'Online' to 'Last seen'!!!

Also there are my readers. Talk about them? I love my readers. A two thumbs up for my dearie friends who are extremely dedicated when it comes to reading my pieces....no matter how bad they might be! Some share the links on their fb timelines...How sweet! Some goes like, "Wow! Shayoni! What a content man! You are too good a writer...Why not try writing a book now!" (Lolzz...are you serious?) There are a few who take time to read, analyze and give me invaluable opinion. I find inspiration in what they say! Sometimes appreciation from unknown readers make my day! I check my daily visit graph. A soaring steady line makes me really happy. I feel proud of myself :-)

Then my Inner Goddess takes charge! " Heyy ", she says, " Chill! Slow down! You ain't a professional! You are a blogger by choice! You do, not an excellent but a somewhat ok job! Never give up, don't get pressed if you don't get enough food for thoughts all the time, just relax and keep writing!"

Phew! I heave a sigh of relief!....

Heyy...now that you know the blogger me better, don't go about shunning my blog altogether coz thats gonna make me feel real real bad! Just know that how much ever bad a blogger I am, whatever you say, whether you like my blog or not, I am grateful to you guys for atleast taking the time out to read and ponder over my scribbles! And I love and appreciate every single thing that you say to me...Pardon me! I am a novice blogger but I promise to give my best and resort to becoming a better blogger with each passing day! I will try and make you happy..which in turn will make me happy too! After all, happiness is life...isn't it? Tada!