The Journey that changed my life

Never in my dreams, I had imagined that I would be sitting so close to people especially on train journeys during the pandemic. But fate would have it, recently I had to travel on a train crowded with people. I am not complaining but I just wanted to share this life-changing experience.

The memorable Journey

I had decided to go to Varanasi(a district in India) with my sister for her BHU(Banaras Hindu University) entrance test (Don't take the name literally as it is meant for everyone, not just Hindus). We were done with our preparation. In our checklist, everything was ticked. The only thing that we were worried about was our return journey from Varanasi to Gorakhpur. 

Our journey from Gorakhpur to Varanasi was spacious and peaceful. Five hours of journey in an Air-conditioned compartment was more than expected. Hardly half of our compartment was filled, my sister was able to continue with her preparation. We took breaks, had our snacks, chatted for a while without any distraction. We had booked an OYO room, just 6 km from the Varanasi railway junction. If any of you is visiting Varanasi or Banaras, don't get confused, as there are three stations in that radius of 10 km with the name of Varanasi/ Banaras ( Varanasi city, Varanasi railway junction, and Banaras). High chances of confusion exist over here. At least that was my case. Although we planned to get down at Varanasi railway junction but as we were reaching Varanasi city station, from somewhere this thought came to my sister's head that brother maybe our OYO room is nearer to this station(Varanasi City Station). And yes, she was right. I checked Google maps and it was just 3.8 km. Ya, I know 6 km and then 3.8 km, not much of a difference but it really saved us around 45 min. We got down at Varanasi city station around 9:30 pm, booked an auto(Sometimes, I prefer auto-rickshaws over cabs), and then reached our OYO room at around 9:45 pm. At our first glance at the so-called hotel, we thought that this extravagant building can't be a hotel. For me, it appeared more like someone's posh residence. We registered our details over there and after proper verification, out of curiosity, I enquired and I was amazed to know that for once I was right in my prediction. This building was constructed as a residential home but due to some reason, they had to change it to a guest house. We had our dinner and then slept around 11 pm after doing a 1 hr crash course for my sister's entrance exam. 

The next day, my sister was to report at her BHU entrance exam center at roughly 7 am. That was really very early. Even I have written exams but only after 8 am. So we got up at around 5:30 am, got ready, and had our breakfast at around 6:15 am. We were out of our rooms by 6:30 am. We tried booking Ola and Uber but that was of no use as we realized that many drivers were not even aware of our location. I was thinking what good is Google maps if it can't even give the correct location. Anyways we found our ride, an e-rickshaw

and by 7 am we were at my sister's exam center. It didn't appear to be a college from outside as its entrance resembled any other shop in its vicinity. Only after entering, we realised that it has a big campus. I wished her all the best for her exam and told her to be confident and pray to the almighty for guiding her during her exam.

Then she had 2 hours of MCQ-based exam and for me, it was 2 hours of prayer and patience. After her exam got over, I went to get her, and then we directly came to Varanasi junction railway station(this time not Varanasi City Junction). 

At 12:50 pm our return journey started. This journey is memorable because of many reasons. From the filled compartments to the sweaty-smelling people, everything will stay in my head for a long time. I even forgot that it's the pandemic time, as there was hardly anyone with masks. The occupancy was double and half of these people didn't have reservation tickets.

This non-air conditioned journey cost me my peace and space but it taught me many things. Most importantly, never forget your roots. Even I was a non-air conditioned traveler not long back, and that is from where I have come. I do not belong to a financially rich family and it was all due to the struggle of my parents and aunt that I and my sisters have been able to pursue a career of our choice. 

Branch out and grow but never forget your roots.

The Life lesson

What better way to make me realize about my identity, about my humble beginning than this memorable experience. There are people who want to travel in first class with all the facilities but they just can't afford it. It's their situation and they can't escape from it. But in the end, they have accepted their condition and they are living their lives happily with whatever little they have. On the other hand, there is a section of people who in spite of having financial satisfaction are not happy and no amount of money can offer this happiness. 

Never consider yourself different from these financially deprived souls as they are also humans. It's just that you had someone's help to grow in life financially and they are still looking for someone to hold their hand and support them and guide them.

No matter where life takes you, don't forget where you came from.

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