Train Arrives At The Right Time

The firsts are often clearly etched in our memories. I was 7 years old when I first traveled on a night train to Calcutta. The idea of lazily lying on a bunk bed, wrapped in a blanket, and gazing out of the window at distant hills and unfamiliar rivers race by was the second most significant thing that had enthralled me. Climbing into the train that would supposedly teleport me to a different world of moving houses was the first. 

An outpouring and diverse bunch of commuters had braved the bite of the winter night and made it to the platform where the train was to arrive in ten minutes. While I sat on a black-and-grey suitcase tucking my freezing hands in my pockets, time and again a gentleman in his late forties donning a heavy overcoat would walk up to the edge of the platform and bend forward to check if the train was approaching the station. The frequency of his movement increased as time passed. The disquiet and unease in him had intrigued the inquisitive kid in me.

I remember having asked my dad, "Does the train arrive sooner if he does that?" to which dad had replied with a smile, "The train will arrive only at the right time."

He was right. I have boarded trains for over two decades now, and the train has never arrived early for the impatient and restless lot waiting at the edge of the platform. 

The train arrives only at the right time.