“We are side by side always but never meet!
We both lie under the sky in the blistering heat!
That heavy load passes by so soon!
The rail track then gets that amazing tune!”
Have you heard of a place called Missamari?
No, I am not making it up! It is a nice little place in Assam with army base and a beautiful place at that!
read on!
We were happily spending our time in Bangalore with friends and most close family nearby! Our hometown in Kerala was near and Chennai (Madras those days!) was next door! Then suddenly one fine day dad got a post telling about his promotion and transfer to this place in Assam called Missamari! At first we all thought that it was a joke since no one in and around me has even heard of this place!
From bangalore the train to Assam is not even direct! There was a train which used to start in Bangalore and via chennai and hyderabad and Orissa used to go to Kolkata (Calcutta those days!)! It was one of the longest train journey of those times and the train was usually booked well in advance!
Of course we had the army hold so booking at least for my parents were confirmed! Those days we had something called the Waiting list and RAC! I am sure even now we have this but those days, flight was only for the uber rich and very limited! There was actually a plan to catch a flight to Assam from Kolkata but then that is a blog for another day!
Now being the children of Army personnels we are used to shifting! Our whole life is packed in a big army trunk and we are set to go! The close friendship of four years was closed in four minutes! In fact staying in Bangalore for more than two years in itself was a miracle!
My close friends of K V ASC with whom we had made such close bonds were broken in an instant! Though we did exchange address and stuff, for all practical purpose of a child in the Grade 5, the friendship was done. I still remember some friends and have got in touch with a couple but my closest friend Tapan Kumar is lost in the digital world! He was a good artist and we had made a pretty good team! We had formed a union of thin and weak but more in number kids and had overthrown the class bully! Then again that is a blog for another day!
Still now those days when the class bully used to make us salute to him in a typical Hitler style makes me squirm and smile!
So the news was met with a mixed bag of sadness in leaving a beautiful place with close friends and a happiness to see a new place with a magical name! And the fact that we may fly! Also dad would be the second in command which is like the deputy CM of a place which is mainly controlled by the army!
It was not a field posting but almost! In field posting the official cannot get his or her family! Since it was not a field posting it would have been a place which had families and easier to reach! Or so we thought!
The first hurdle was to get the RAC confirmed! Since mom and dad had confirmed seats we had at least place to sit! My dad told us that we can sleep on the floor! Did not know whether he was joking or not! Luckily we had lady luck shine and the birth got confirmed! The first class in those days was when you have four berths and you can close the door! It was like our own mini mobile home!
We used to love the train tea and the tasty idli vada! Now of course I am assuming that the lack of hygiene made it very tasty!
The TT used to see the tickets and some other official would ask if we needed food!
Eating railway food in a moving train is an experience! We would already be so hungry and the aroma of the food would make the stomach motor running!
It may not taste that good but we did not care! Going from one compartment to another in between the carpet like bridge was a different thrill!
The constant sound of the train over the tracks is actually very loud but we still used to get sound sleep in the night when the seat becomes the berth! When we were younger no one allowed us to sleep in the top while growing up it was the norm!
The biggest temptation we had to resist was to not pull the chain! It was simply so inviting! We always used to wonder what would happen! My friends whose imaginations had not limit used to tell that the train will stop suddenly on pulling the chain! Since we had never seen it happen it was a mystery! That big long train journey from Bangalore to chennai to finally the big smelly station of Howrah was an epic adventure in itself!
Now from Howrah how we reached this little place called Missamari is…yes! A blog for another day! Have patience! Like how birthday celebrity Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, also known as Tenzin Gyatso;[c] né Lhamo Thondup; has and propagtes!
You may of course know him as Dalai Lama!
Now say a silent prayer and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!
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