TRAIN ! TRAIN OF LIFE!!

Well it took me several months to post again on my blog..but here it goes....
For a lot of time now, I have been thinking about this...Whenever I travel by a train, it dawns on to me again and again that I want to really write something about this in my blog..so I decide... but as soon as I get out of the train...I forget about it...
Ohh..well,in fact that's what I want to write about..Small-small things that we get connected to ,while we are on train,journeying..and we feel we would never really forget them..or atleast we wont forget them easily..But ,hell NO! We forget them as soon as the train disappears from the station we alight at.
Well,let me give an example..the other day..I met a guy on my way to Mumbai from Pune..he was working in Mumbai,and was originally from Jabalpur.Actually we met at the ticket queue and then again in the train where we were standing near the door of the general compartment.We talked about many topics including cricket,railways,studies,IITs etc.etc. I thought I would not so easily forget him..but yes I did..and that too very easily.There were other things to worth remembering too.On the way,there was a queer incident of our train hitting a bull who strayed on the rails,and obviously got killed.It took about half an hour's delay ,first to locate the caracass, then to clear the rails and then resuming the journey.Throughout this time I was observing the general junta's behavior very closely..and it was really amusing..people felt important when they had some information about the problem caused and were eager to tell that to anybody who asked(or to anybody who didn't ask too!!) Every person ,being from a different background had a different take on it...The point is,traveling on a train does really involves things worth remembering...
Each time I board the train, I meet a new set of people,from a completely different background than that I had met till now...I forget them almost as soon as I leave the train.That reminds me of a similar experience that we have when we go to a new place and spend a reasonable amount of time there..That happened to me recently when I went to a university for a project.While leaving the place, I distinctly thought of many people,who I had met here and was quite sure that I won't meet them ever again.And well,isn't this true about life in general ,too ? I mean, at every juncture of life,we meet a whole lot of new people,enjoy their company,learn a lot of things from them,may be sometimes dont like them..do crazy,weird things with them and what not !
That made me think of the train as nothing but life,just FAST FORWARD !It's like a short trailer of a long movie...Thats what it is...TRAIN ! TRAIN OF LIFE !!

Optimistic......Am I ?

This is about something which has been weighing on my mind for ages...often I used to talk with some of my friends, my relatives,and get this same feeling...It's like this..Every time when I talk with people, and issue cropping up for discussion is "current situation in India" ,the discussion would take a mighty turn to the same old cribbings about
corruption,powerty,population,rural (un)development, poor health scene,child labour etc etc etc...
Then I used to take a back seat int the discussion and think myself...is India in that bad a situation?I used to think on this many times...Due to this, there were periods of time when I used to look at each nook and corner of a newspaper to really know whats happening out there....There are murders, there are thefts.there are scams,rapes. bomb-blasts and what not...
But then there are other things too...There are reports about some village in rajasthan ,which was (in)-famous for suicides now becoming completely independent in terms water for drinking and irrigation.Then ,there is a report of a senior IAS officer taking chief-minister head-on for his mis-deeds..Then there are stories about some youth in uttar pradesh who starts school for freed-child labourers.Then there is some news about tremendous growth observed in exports from india of text-tiles and handlooms.
That made me think and come to the question again and again: Is it all too bad?surely not..Its just the way we look at it..people who compare india with other developed nations and frown should note that these developed nations were free and developing for last hundreds of years, and they too must have faced many road-blocks.The fact of the matter is India is developing faster than the growth of other countries in the similar conditions.
Then what do I worry about? I worry about the attitude due to which we worry when its not necessary ,and itself becomes a reason for worry.Another thing I worry about is the mindset..Let me give an example..I was looking at the newspaper one day, on a page everywhere I saw some or the other reports, some about new social programmes that some people have voluntarily taken up, then a report describing the story of a physically-challenged girl appearing for and getting selected for CAT, and all such stories of grit, determination, social empowerment and ....there!- I see the news of some state political party raging a havoc by demonstrations about whether the school childern in government-run schools should be given an egg or just milk-bread? That left me really exasparated...I fail to understand how can these parties take up such petty issues and fight over them? I mean, how DARE they, when all around, they see a huge pile of serious problems (and with they, being the ones who can really make a huge difference..) They should really have just a smallest glance over the newspapers, and I'm sure they will feel ashamed in their heart about what they are fighting about..
It is these things that I worry about the most ! Surely,this is something like that story of an elephant and 5 blind men..Each one touches a different part of elephant and concludes differently about what this creature would be like...Similarly, here noone knows the complete situation and relies on what all HE/SHE has heard ! Not that I feel that is the end of the story (as I see atleasts a handful of people taking those responsibilities), but still the process would require much less time if these parties decide for themselves...In any case, I am not one of those who feel the situation has got out of our hands..Surely Not!!