Howrah station

February 27, 2020 (Thursday)

We reached Howrah station at 2 pm. It is the oldest, busiest and largest railway complex in India. Howrah is where life in all its different forms – from the radiant to the uncelebrated – manifests itself. There is madness for sure, and the method to it is less obvious. There are people busily going about their daily business regardless of its challenges. People chattering, people sipping tea, people laughing, people selling things, people begging and people sleeping. Often in such an out-of-context mode to their surroundings that it makes you dial back a few notches to simply get a frame of reference. Disabled, disfigured, disgruntled – you find them all here. Amidst thousands of others.  There is probably only one thing that keeps them alive – routine. Like the very trains that depart from here every hour, life chugs along in steady beats. They find their own ways of making do. They have some abilities which their circumstances have helped hone. For example, I saw a young girl watching gleefully as two cats were playing with each other. She seemed so delighted that she could have been at it for hours. Someone else of her age in a different continent might be spending that time watching a cat video on her phone. If the joy they derive from the activity is the same, then perhaps – in this isolated example – there is no real extra benefit from the privilege that money brings. Elsewhere, I saw a person sleep blissfully amidst all the noise and movement and chaos around him. Again, I felt the same way. Last week, when we caught up for a drink, I had been talking to AB and SS about downgrading my life. This is what a downgraded life would look like, I thought to myself. Where I can find happiness in more measly matters, so that the extra luxuries that money brings become optional in the scheme of things. It was food for thought.  If you are feeling too low and want to be inspired, or contrastingly if you are elated but want to feel grounded, Howrah station is the place to visit. Its own extremes would serve as an antidote to the extremes of emotions you might be experiencing.