It is not very often that you come across people on a journey who tend to leave their imprints on your life, in this age when everyone is glued to their smart phones, exchanging hellos and smileys in the virtual world, real conversation does take a backseat. A journey, a travel; that too an 18 hour long ordeal so to say on a snail paced train is perhaps never the perfect setting for someone to communicate with a co-passenger. Specially for a typical mechanical engineer like me, who tends to take his academic background far too seriously, striking a conversation with a girl who of course was a stranger on a train was just not happening. And, there was it; a notion that was about to change.
February 15th 2015 indeed marked a special day in my life; I was destined to meet a stranger who would go on to break a few stereotypes and foolish prejudices I had built up in my mind. Miss Nishtala had arrived!!
A bindi on her forehead, a sleeveless tee and capris; honestly the moment I saw her I thought her sense of dressing sucked big time, a mistake I still regret making. From arranging her berth and luggage, she did stuff that most girls having a male accompanier wouldn’t. Yes, she did have a guy to accompany her and it was soon going to be journey he wouldn’t forget too.
Ms. Nishtala had this peculiarity in her, which for me (a guy who had limited interactions with the opposite gender) hadn’t come across, she wasn’t adamant. Although, she was busy doing her stupid antics, which included making faces at her companion, muttering random stuff (which I assumed were either lyrics of some song or were expletives) and forcing her partner to eat of her hands, she might not have realized that there was someone who was observing her do all that.
Half an hour into the journey, and the moment arrived. “Aap kaha jaa rahe ho?? “, a random question from a random stranger to another, it took me 30 odd seconds to realize that the question was shot at me. Thank Heavens!! I didn’t have to break the ice. And, there you go, the conversation started. From academics to area of interests, from science to religion, from Modi to Kejriwal, she knew it all. At least it showed to be so; on the surface. Ms. Nishtala went on and on and on, from cursing the pathetic condition of the Indian Railways to the need of privatization, this girl left me impressed. I hadn’t met a girl who knew so much about Mr.Kejriwal let alone as to why the Aam Aadmi Party was formed. Little did I know that her companion was cursing me in his mind, for he had a very little to say.
A night into the journey, and the conversation continued the next day; this time the topic being a friend of hers, who was on the same train, she failed to realize that I knew nothing about him, probably I wasn’t even interested. From the oranges that were being sold at the Nagpur railway station to the weather of Bangalore, Ms. Nishtala had a say on everything. Her talkative nature was slowing earning her a fan.
Late in the evening, her destination arrived; getting down from the train, she assured she would stay in touch, and By God!! She did. I had assumed, that she would turn out to be just another co-passenger, with whom you talk random stuff, share a cup of tea and say good bye. But, She was here to stay!!
After a couple of months, I happened to get a Hi! from her, the conversation started again, although in the form of text messages this time. As days rolled by, I happened to explore the other side of her, she wasn’t as insane as I had assumed her to be, she was perhaps a few notches higher than that. But, that was her sanity, her USP. From politics to real life experiences, from what went on at my workplace to her petty issues, our small talks included it all. I had by then seen a major fall in my own personal life; my relationship had left me gutted, all that I had counted upon had left me deserted. Social life had gone for a toss and depression had slowly started to creep in. It was then, that I experienced what friendship could be, at 27, with not too many friends around to share my stuff with; life had started screwing me bad. But, the magic that Ms. Nishtala was, I could see hope emerge. From her insane talks to her lecturing sessions (which made no sense at times) I could find a bit of motivation to get up and go about trying to keep things normal. Although, she never really stayed in touch as much as my words are making it out to be, but a text or two in a week was enough for me to realize that there was enough madness left in this world to be taken care of.
There you go, Ms. Nishtala, you did leave an imprint that will never go away, thank my stars for colliding with yours on that fateful journey. I made a friend for life, an insane freak who set things straight for me. An abnormal being who pretends being normal, you did bring about a bit of normalcy in me. You did teach me a few stuff or two; a mechanical engineer can find a friend in a girl too.
P.S: Thanks Shweta !! Thanks for inspiring, thanks for being there when you were high and I was low, Bottoms Up to You!!!
abhishek purkayastha 