Have you ever traveled in a bus or a train and sat next to a person who goes on chatting about an issue in his/her life to someone on the phone? It is an annoying experience. The characteristics of such a person are: he/she does not talk softly, does not bother about the choice of words, and talks endlessly oblivious of the fact that other passengers exist. Thankfully, aircrafts don't allow use of cell phones on a flight, but I am afraid that day is not far when technology will enable us to connect to our dear and loved ones even when we are thousands of feet above the ground.
Recently, I took a train from Mumbai to visit my maternal grandparents in Surat. The journey was not a planned one, and as a result I did not have a reserved ticket. So I reached about half an hour prior to the train departure to figure out a way to travel. After asking around, I came across a guy who was selling a ticket at a premium. This guy also served meals on the very same train I was about to board. I paid the money, and took my seat next to a lady in her late twenties or early thirties. When I sat down, she gave me a disgusted expression. Maybe she was expecting her Prince Charming to come sweep her off the feet, and I wasn't him. But that was not the reason why she was upset, as I soon found out.
She dialed a number on her phone and started talking. I was not at all interested in her phone call and stared out of the window engrossed in my thoughts. Now, I can be very absent minded, and sometimes not even know what is happening around me. But this woman, who I shall call "Chatter Box" (for obvious reasons), had taken upon herself to deprive anyone in the radius of ten feet of any peace what so ever. I am not one to pry upon others' conversations, but the pitch of her voice, the choice of language and animated expressions caught my attention. She was telling a friend of hers (I pity him) about how a guy ("The Dog"- one of the many things she called him) in her office had not been courteous and chivalrous and how he had abandoned her on Woman's Day. Initially I thought he had dumped her. But that was not the case. The Dog had booked his train ticket, but not hers. And for this blasphemous act, she wanted to crucify him and report him to his superiors. Although I have heard girls swear before, I was not expecting a lady of the age of Chatter Box to go all guns blazing in three different languages at the stroke of dawn. Talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed. In any case, after about thirty minutes she finally cut the call, but by no means was she satisfied or at peace with the situation. Still furious, she picked up the phone, punched in some digits, woke up another friend out of deep slumber, repeated the same story, only with different cuss words, apologized for waking the poor chap up, bade him goodbye, kept the phone and dozed off to sleep herself. After what seemed like an eternity, the train coach was finally peaceful. I must say, a very polite woman.
While all this was happening, I had taken out my diary to pen down the events for a blog entry. I finished scribbling minutes before reaching Surat. As the train approached the station, I packed up my belongings and got up to go near the exit. Chatter Box too had to get down, and was standing behind me. Just before stepping out, she said to me: "Excuse me... I never thought anyone would write about me....but I think you could have done better." Realizing what had happened, I smiled at her, told her it was my first draft and got down.
