By The Admins Of
An Awesome Journey By Train
A train journey is a common
experience. Still, it is a wonderful experience. The people we meet during a
train journey are of some many kinds that every train journey becomes a unique
one.
Me with some of my friends,
made a long journey once from Karachi to Lahore. We had booked our seats a day
earlier than we started. We were well advised in doing so, for when we reached
the Karachi city station, we found the booking office surrounded by a huge
crowd of passengers. I think it would have been impossible for us to secure a
ticket there in time to catch the train.
We went to the platform,
where the train was to arrive. There too we found a big crowd of people waiting
for the train. It was a colourful crowd. When the train arrived we managed to
get to our seats. Ours was to be a long journey and we had to make ourselves as
comfortable as possible. At last the guard waved a green flag. The engine
whistled and the train began to move slowly. Out of station yard it gained a
good speed.
When the train was in motion,
I had an opportunity of taking note of the other passengers in the compartment.
One of them was an old and evidently pious man. He was telling a young man the
benefits the religion had conferred upon mankind. I too listened to the
discussion with rapt attention. There was an up-to-date couple who looked at
everybody with contempt. They considered themselves superior to every body
around. Here was also a gentleman with his wife. She sat huddled with her four
children. It was difficult for her to control them. There were people from
different corners of the country in our compartment. The Pakhtoons were talking
in Pushto, while some villagers from the interior of the Punjab were talking in
Punjabi. Another young man was talking
with his companions in chaste Sindhi. We were not long without an amusement.
Some of the passengers now began to sing by turns. Thank God the rush of the
passengers was not very great.
At every station the train
stopped. There came the hawkers with various articles of food. The eatables
they sold were so badly exposed that one would never think of eating the stuff,
if one cared for* the laws of health at all. Besides the hawkers, there always
came endless number of beggars. There were all kinds ‘of beggars; cripples,
blind-men, healthy fellows, old and young, men and women. Some sang, some
played on musical instruments, some whined, some cried aloud — all wanted alms.
When
we were passing through the desert of Sindh, it was quite suffocating because of
the hot winds blowing from the desert. When the train reached the plains of the
Punjab, we felt the joy of travelling. I had a good chance of enjoying
everything out. Now we passed by green fields, canals and rivers and beautiful
scenery.
After a long and enjoyable journey, all of us
were happy to reach Lahore. We were also happy to be in the midst of our
friends and relatives.