The Diary of a Vagabond (Page 1)

The Diary of a Vagabond

 

My friend came to drop me to the Wankaner station as I was going to Pune. He dropped me to the station and went on to resume his work as it was a regular day. My ticked was confirmed recently into RAC (sharing single seat with the other person). I had taken with me the book by Oprah Winfrey “What I Know For Sure” for passing my time in train. I started reading the book after having a brief look at the fellow passengers. The TC(ticket checker) came gazed at me and went I didn’t bother to show him the ticket without his asking as the previous TC had already checked my ticket. The lady sitting in the opposite seat told me that the TC saw my book and went but I didn’t heed much to her and continued my reading. 

Nevertheless I was assured of it when the TC returned and told me that he too has read this book and it’s a great book thus started our conservation where he skimmed through the book and sang songs like “Zindagi kaisi yeh paheli hai” from Anand and other melodious old songs, I also joined the tunes and sang the songs along with him. He skimmed rapidly through the book and got the gist of the book. I was happy by his thirst for knowledge and his passion to read different books which the passengers were carrying. He told me about himself that he was a singer and also sang in the church choir group. He was fascinated by the old songs. He believed in the policy of enjoying the present and connecting with people. There was a shoe polish boy nearby who told me that the TC gave him ten rupees which no TC ever gave him for his services. The TC added that the person needed this money for his evening dose of hooch. 

After skimming the full book he offered me a coffee which I accepted so on the next station we went for coffee and then I asked him his name, it was Riju Micheal. I also took his photo and his contacts. His age was above 40 but looked like under 30 I think this was because of his joyful nature and the skill to connect with people. He showed me other passenger and told me that he too had some other book which also he had skimmed and lastly he told me that it was a wonderful day as he could meet me and I also reciprocated. I asked him about my seat so he said it was difficult to convert to full one as the train was full. At night I was sharing my seat with a fat guy so it was not at all comfortable but I can sleep sitting so I slept while he wriggled and at last opted to sleep in the space between two seats and left the full seat for myself. Really what a day it was.