Though I had a ticket to travel by the air-conditioned coach in Coromandel Express from Howrah to Chennai, I was waitlisted 21. Enquiries at the station confirmed my worst fears. That I would have to travel in the unreserved compartment as I could not be accommodated in the air-conditioned coach. Twenty-six hours, including two sweltering hot afternoons while the train raced through four hot spots in India, wasn't a welcoming prospect. But I had to go because of the research work I do. I had to complete my field studies of the crop pattern in the southern States of India and the crop auction traditions before I could take the plane back to my university in Canada. My dissertation was pending and this was the last of the phases before I submitted it for appraisal. The worst aspect of traveling by unreserved coach is that it is overcrowded. There is no limit to the number of passengers who can board the coach. And usually many waitlisted passengers find to their dismay that they have to travel by this coach if they wished to travel at all.
Armed with my briefcase – a cute little thing I bought in Canada – and a mineral water bottle, I plunged right in. Well, it was not exactly as smooth as piercing through water when you dive from the board at a swimming pool. I had to elbow and push and shove, and wait, before the person in front managed to turn a little, yielding space for me to go right in. I gave up the idea of taking a chance of finding some place inside the compartment. It was packed like a tin of Jell-O, with people sitting on the floor, on the passageway, and eight on a bench meant for six. Luggage racks too had people, sitting comfortably and dangling their feet in front of the face of those seated below. There was some space near the toilet and I moved in. There is always space near the toilet because people generally avoid sitting close to it. The stench of an overused restroom can be overpowering. The water in the tank runs out soon enough but one's need to relieve one's self is not dependent on the availability of water. So the restroom begins to stink in no time. I was safe because I had an ample supply of facial tissues and eau de cologne to take care of my urge to stop breathing.
People had begun to settle down after the train pulled out of Howrah, and soon the passengers were either sitting down or standing till their exhausted legs gave way.
After some six hours out of Howrah, a young couple boarded the train. The husband managed to push his way through a mass of humanity that preferred to occupy the entrance to get the blast of cool breeze as the train hurtled along at 120 kmph (nearly 80 miles an hour). The people near the gate relented to allow the couple in. Chivalry is obviously not dead yet in India and I felt justifiably proud. With his suitcase lodged firmly on his head, he tiptoed through the crowd, banged a few heads accidentally which drew some grunts of protest, but finally managed to get in safely with his wife following him closely behind.
He had to stop short as he could go no further. The number of people who stood or sat on the passageway ruled out his progress with his wife unless he could, like a spider walk upside down along the roof to reach the spot he desired. He craned his neck to look inside and realised that there was absolutely no space for him or his wife. His young bride, wearing gold bangles and pretty ear-rings and a bright red sari, noticed that there space near the toilet. She told her husband who responded immediately in a language I didn't understand.
Obviously that it would be stinking in no time, but the wife decided to move. She needed some space to sit so she tip-toed across those who dared to sit near the toilet and reached the spot where I was sitting. She looked around and our eyes met for the first time. I smiled and got a bright smile in return. She bent down and spoke to me but I didn't understand a thing, because I just didn't know her language. I expressed my ignorance through sign language which she understood. Her response was a very pleasant smile which warmed my heart, sent my pulse racing. My eight-incher strapped under Jockeys and protected from all coefficients of expansion began to enlarge.
I began to study her more carefully. There was nothing else to do. Not even reading a book because there was hardly any light. The massive number of people in the compartment had blocked out whatever light there was. Here was this young married woman, definitely not more than 19, with flawless skin and a 32-28-36 figure one could die for. Her breasts were not large but they were firm. The blessing of youth and an unspoilt body. I couldn't help my imagination run. She turned her head towards me, saw me staring at her breasts, smiled shyly, pulled the end of her sari and tucked it into the waist.
This allowed me almost complete visual access to her smooth, flat tummy, her recessed navel and her small pert breasts that threatened to tear out of her tight blouse. I couldn't help winking at her. She noticed that and her beautiful, painted lips curved into an inviting smile. Or was I imagining? What if I am imagining? Nothing like it to while away the hours. And forget the pain of traveling without rest or sleep. The young girl took the suitcase from her husband, who was visibly relieved to get rid of the load and ventured to move on as far as he could. But he couldn't go very far. He told her something again, and she nodded her head in reply. She took the suitcase and placed it next to my briefcase on which I was sitting.
After a few hours, I could see her dozing. She had placed her right hand on the wall of the restroom which allowed me an unobstructed view of the profile of her right breast. And I began imagining how it would be to touch, knead and suck them if possible. If possible! My foot! In an overcrowded compartment with at least a dozen people around the restrooms and watching each other's face from time to time to while away the painfilled hours. Ruled out, I thought. Her head began to dip from time to time and soon I realised that she was too tired to continue standing. She came and sat on her suitcase, turned toward me and smiled again. I stared at her lips in anticipation, looked straight into her eyes and smiled back. She whispered something but I couldn't make anything of what she said. So I whispered in English, "I am sorry, but I don't understand your language." She tilted her head to the side, looked at me and said, "You know no Oriya?"