My 'Jab We Met' Moment

"Maine ek sapna dekha, bada hi ajeeb tha. Badi bechani ho rahi thi, ais alag raha tha ki mano jaise koi train chuth rahi ho...aur main uske peeche bhaag rahi hoon..." When I saw Jab We Met, I loved every single moment of the movie. Be it Kareena running after Shahid or Shahid driving Kareena to the station so that she could catch the train, every single frame was amazing. But never in my wildest dream did I ever imagine that the same would be happening with me! The dialog which I mentioned in the beginning almost came true for me.

After I got a job in GBM (a Public Relations firm), I had to travel to Delhi for my job training in May. Everything was set - my tickets, my luggage etc. I was very excited and was making plans about what would I do when I reach Delhi, where would I go and eat an so on and so forth. I was not in Mumbai one week prior to my journey, but as everything was already set before hand, I was relaxed. The tension started after I was not able to get a ticket back to Mumbai from Gaya, Bihar. After that nothing was going right for me. Every single day my brother and I used to look for tickets, but only failure came to us. I had a train on 24th of May and till 20th I was in Gaya. I was spending sleepless nights. But finally, somehow my father got the tickets for 21st and I reached Mumbai on 22nd May. I was confident that nothing will go wrong as I had already reached Mumbai. All I had to do was to take my luggage and leave for Delhi. But life can not be so sweet to me.

I had to shift places, so my brother and I were busy shifting luggage from my place to my aunt's place. We could not do it in one day, so we decided we would come early and shift rest of the luggage the next day. And that was the day when I had to travel. We reached our place, got a cab, loaded the stuff and were on the move. As usual, something bad had to happen. We got a lot of traffic on the way and I was running short of time. My brother was yelling at me about how irresponsible I was about not leaving on time and all. I was on the verge of crying because my train was supposed to leave at 5pm and it was already 0445. We were 5 mins away from the station, but the traffic was not letting us move freely.

Somehow we managed to reach the station. I saw my train standing on the platform and it was about to leave. I passed on the luggage to 2 coolies and ran for my life. My whole life was coming infront of my eyes. The moment I stepped on the platform, the train started moving. I shouted at the driver and begged him to stop the train for just 2 mins. Just like Kareena in Jab We Met and Simran in DDLJ, I caught the train running. Behind me came the 2 coolies and they dumped my luggage infront of me. The train was in  motion. I had to pay a whooping price of Rs.500 just for 2 bags to the coolies, but I had no other option. The moment realisation hit me and before I could think or react, tears started flowing from my eyes. I called my brother, mother, cousin, friend and God knows who not possible, and informed them about the incident. and after that I started laughing. I searched for my colleague who was travelling with me and narrated the whole thing to her as well. She got worried first but after two minutes, even she was laughing on this.

This incident might sound filmy, but it will always be a nightmare for me. I could never forget that unfortunate day ever. But I guess whatever happens, happens for a reason. Nevertheless, I reached Delhi safely and as now I sit in my office writing and thinking about it, I smile.

A Ride to Remember

Travelling- one thing which we all love to do, and its an integral part of our day-to-day life. And if you stay in a place like Mumbai, then you are blessed with extra travelling everyday, whether you like it or not. And by the comment I just made, you might have guessed that I'm a Mumbai girl. But my case is different. People don't like travelling here but I love travelling and exploring new places. In Mumbai, no doubt the local trains are considered the life line of the city, but other transport modes like BEST buses, rickshaws and the yellow-black taxis also play an important role.

In Mumbai, nobody has even an extra second to waste, so when we get the opportunity to travel by cabs (yes, taxis are referred as cabs in Mumbai) we don't let it go. Every taxiwala is a bhaiya for us (as people have this term for them to call them) as they hail either from U.P or Bihar. And in our daily life we get into so many cabs that we don't even have a count of it. But few journeys change your life and your perspective about certain things. And I happen to have that journey. I belong to the media industry, so I have to be constantly on the move. My colleague and I were done with our media rounds and wrapping up for the day. We decided to take a taxi till station as we had no more strength left to walk. We were constantly waving at the taxis to stop but none were free. We thought it's hopeless to even look for a taxi as it was the time when everyone was in a hurry to go back home. We were about to give up when a taxi stopped in front of us ans we hopped in it.
Our journey began (yes i'm calling it a journey as it was an experience from which i learnt something) and my colleague and I got chatting. We informed the taxi driver to take us to Dadar station, but he said he has to go to Mumbai Central to park his taxi, as his driving time was coming to an end, so he would drop us there. We agreed to the offer. All this while, he was looking at us through the rear view mirror.On being asked the reason for he catching the train from Mumbai Central and not Churchgate (as you get a seat if you board the train from Churchgate during office hours), he smiled and replied that he had a "grouping" in the train and his friends would keep a seat for him. My colleague got down en-route his destination and I continued. He asked me where do I have to go, and when I mentioned Marine Lines, he said then why take a train for such a small distance, rather he'll drop me and still would have time to come back to park his taxi. I was more than happy.
Out of the blue, he asked me where do i come from, and the moment I said Bihar, a big grin spread across his face. He joyfully said that he also belongs to Bihar and exactly the same place as mine. He said that he completed his Masters in Arts, Geography to be precise and had applied for government sector exams, but couldn't make it through, so he gave up on that and was working in an office in Nariman Point. My inquisitive nature couldn't stop me from asking him another question, so I asked him the reason for driving a taxi even after being educated and working in an office! He smiled and said- "it's part time madam. I drive taxi to fulfill the demands of my children, I have two sons and I love them a lot. They ask me so many things and I earn well from the office job, but that's not enough in today's time. So I drive the taxi as a part time job in the evening after my office and make good by the end of the month. I'm happy and even my family is happy." I was thoroughly surprised by this and also touched by his story.  He sacrificed his sleep to keep his family happy and still there was no sign of tiredness on his face! He never complained about the hardships he was facing everyday, infact he was happy, as happy as anyone can be, i guess even more than a millionaire.
He reminded me of my old self, the way I was driven to make it big in my life. I was always passionate about whatever I did in my life, no matter how many sacrifices I had to make for it. I used to enjoy every moment of life and was always happy and joyful. But I guess inevitably I have become a part of this ugly rat race. To prove myself, I have lost myself somewhere. He helped me connect to my self.
We tend to loose ourselves amongst the crowd in the process of finding what we want in life, loose the precious moments which we should have lived, and later complain about it. But this man was a winner for sure. We might be a step ahead from him in terms of education and lifestyle, but he surely defeated us in terms of life. Thank you Mr. Sanjay Kumar Pandit ji for making me realise what I was missing in my life.