The train halted for fifteen minutes at the Boldora Station. I had come to Boldora on a business assignment. It brought back old memories of my life as a student of this city- active, rebellious, passionate and sensitive. I had friends. That was because, I was lazy on days when the moon turned violet. Now, I work for a diaper marketing multinational at Xerides. During the recruitment they said they required a macho, aggressive and ‘dry’ person. They chose me.
I was disappointed that the Company was stingy enough not to buy me an air ticket back to Xerides. The arrival of the fluorescent pink train was confirmed by the remotely familiar hooting noise from the engine. Trains are fun- I consoled myself, remembering the days when I used to yearn for those vacations that took me to the land of Mullagai Bajjis. Moreover, the journey was going to be comfortable. Considering the fact that I only carried an orange briefcase and I had been booked in an A/C 3-Tier Compartment.
I entered the psychedelic furnishings of the compartment. It wasn’t difficult to find my seat number. However, there was a problem. An obsessively curly haired woman had seated herself comfortably in what was rightfully my place.
“Excuse me?”, I asked, firmly, “Think there is a mistake. You are sitting in MY seat.”
The obsessively curly haired lady looked up.
“Oh my goodness!”, she gasped.
“Typhoid!”, I screamed.
Typhoid Bacteria, the girl from Vlesod. The lady who was the doughnut of everyone’s nose. Her pink curls were the curliest curls that anybody could have seen. They made the creepers feel creeped out. The telephone wires cut themselves in shame. This caused a huge crisis during my college days. The Telecom Minister was sacked.
“Moroner! How have you been? You seem to have disappeared from the face of this Galaxy!”, she said.
Her maroon eyes always mesmerised me. I was always fascinated by the fact that my name and the colour of her eyes sounded similiar.
“I .. I am fine! I work for a Diaper Marketing Company. What about you?”, I stuttered.
“I landed myself in a job at the Telecom Ministry! I am attending a conference on wireless systems at Fernises.”, she exclaimed, holding my hand. That was when I noticed the sapphire wedding ring decorating her hand.
“Fernises?”, I asked blankly. The sight of the ring filled me with emptiness.
The Ticket Collector came by, which was when I realised that my seating problem had not been sorted yet. I approached him.
He simply said, “Saar! You have boarded the wrong train.”
