After all the activities from our induction training, group building, self reflection, skills and exposure visits, some eventful, some tiring , we were ready to leave. It was then that we got the message of ticket cancellations of our direct train from Pune to Raipur. We rejoiced by dancing and feeling happy for the one extra day that we got to enjoy with our new friends, but it was short lived. The travel agent got us tickets to Raipur via Nagpur. It was frustrating. The journey was anyway long and now with the change of trains and a wait time between them, it was going to be gruesome. The food on the premium (some duronto or shatabdi) train was so bad it was inedible. We complained and got the usual- I’ll report it to the concerned authorities. The passengers started complaining as well, saying this was the same every time they traveled or had done so before. We tried to morally shame them and moved on to ordering Domino’s at Bhuswal, and those cold American pizzas saved our lives.
The auto waala from Nagpur to another station at the periphery where our next train was from charged us a lot but since it was 4:30 am we had no energy left to do anything else and went ahead with it. We took a waiting room which was quite decent and made us feel all is not lost with Indian railways. I mean the trains are obviously bad but some parts of the platform were good. There’s always a silver lining to be found in the darkest blackest of voids. We reached Raipur at an odd time, probably 12 pm and we were hungry and one of us had a bus earlier than others to her destination. We rushed for lunch at a fancy looking restaurant which turned out to be our worst decision. The food was stale and smelt terrible, we were left hungry and disappointed. We got an auto waala who ferried us around town, dropping the fellow and helping us find a hotel to rest till our bus time in the night. He tried making a few extra bucks by trying to push his hotels and barging in first to talk while making us wait outside on any hotel we found online. After a while in the swearing heat I decided to book some room I found online after a huge battle with shady call operators who were Oyo or God knows who but we found a room. We rested and nothing much happened as I woke up and left with Subhir and after he left I went to the mall to shop where I bought formals after a long long time to prepare myself for the office. Then I got a call from the director of the ngo I was about to join informing me of an Aandhi toofan in their area and that I should wait till the morning bus . This inaccessibility excited me, as it signified a place less touched by the evil grasp of the urban/modern world, a quieter place that goes on independent of what goes on in the capital or the news headlines.
Life is always a step ahead of you. No matter what you think, know or do, you can’t outpace life and its complexities. The new roads having disappeared were red with the soil that was always there beneath them and I saw a bus overturned on the side of the road and I was reminded of the seriousness and challenges of this new journey. I have a knack for politics and would love a debate with random new acquaintances when I was probably in a safe space by design, either the university or my hometown etc. I was out on a borrowed office activa at 11 when I realized where I was as I was riding on super broken roads, a result of the movement of mining trucks, probably broken mountains and villagesbarely two “dhabas’ on the chowk and while coming back, still in awe of this new place I was in, half open mouth , an insect swooped into my mouth dangerously disturbing my attention and balance. The next thought was if I was to survive here I had to keep my mouth shut and keep my eyes open to learn. I was allotted the guest house and it was a comfy place seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
Thunderstorms started and lights went out, and I saw a tiny flash of light floating in the air, disappearing, then reappearing at a certain distance. At first I wondered if I had lost it, but then suddenly the category of a firefly as an insect of such and such kind came to my mind and I was relieved , also joyous on feeling its presence. That was a nice welcome to Kondagaon. The young new driver Om made dinner for me in the following days and it was a treat to get to eat his food and get to know the thoughts and history of the local people as informally as possible. We both suggested to each other we watch Bastar Talkies channel on youtube and it was the sign of a vibe match and 1200 kms from home someone I had never met before had a socio-cultural view of the world similar to mine. I was home again, or did I ever even leave it?
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