Travelling is not one of my favorite activities. It is something I must do in order to get from one point to the other on this enormous globe. So, whenever I "have" to travel, I arm myself with one or two fat books and a portable music player. I have to do all this as I am not as blessed as some people, who can go to sleep the moment the train starts.
Well, when I entered the train a few days back(travelling from Pune to Lucknow), I was carrying three books with me:
1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2. Bourne Identity by RobertLudlum (Yes, I have still not read it, neither have I seen the movie!!)
3. Lee Iacocca's autobiography. Though I have read it before, it was when I was a school kid. Reading it now, I might be able to appreciate it even better!
I settled down in the cool AC compartment, with a bag of chips and a nice fat book. I was just hoping that I will get co-passengers who will give me some peace and quiet. Alas, it was not to be! Everything that counld have gone wrong, did go wrong! Murphy triumphed, and my journey was a disaster!!
Let me describe my co-passengers, so that you can imagine my plight!!
a. "Punjab di sherni": An absolutele brat. Throughout the journey, she was jumping all over the place, creating a ruckus. Out of nowhere, she would scream out "o papaji, meri naak me se khoon aa raha hai". Her poor grandparents would rush to her, just to discover that she was joking!!
b. "Fart king from Ludhiana": The grandfather of the brat, he beleived that "A fart in time, is not a crime!!". He kept on farting away unabashadly, even saying "Oye excuse me puttar!" everytime!!
c. "Mr. Verbal Diarhhoea": Every single traveller within hearing distance around him now knows that "he is a software engineer, making a brave move from a stable staid job to a highly challenging and creative but risky new job in Delhi". He was explaining to me in great detail, how he believes in taking risks. He was indeed taking a big risk, because had he gone on for another minute, I would have stuffed a sock in his mouth.
d. "Crybaby": This little monster started wailing at the top of its voice right at the start of the journey. As long as its mother was walking around the aisle with him, it was calm. The moment she stopped, it promptly burst out again!! ( My respect for mothers has increased tenfold now. They really do have a lot of patience while dealing with unreasonable kids like us!!)
Even through this all, I managed to finish the book "The Brave New World". It is absolutely amazing. Do read it.
It is a futuristic view of the world where "humans are mass produced", and no one is free to choos his/her destiny. Everyone is conditioned right from his birth to do his part in the society". It is a classic example of what will happen if "individual freedom" is sacrificed for "stability of the whole society". Read a review here.
Interestingly, throughout the book, the characters keep on saying "Oh Ford!" or "My Ford!". (God replaced by Ford!). An obvious attack on Henry Ford and his mass production techniques! Hilarous, though a little misplaced!