This is my collection of writings for the three hundred and sixty five day writing challenge - where one has to write something daily, every day, for one whole year, based on the prompts provided - as part of an exercise to improve creative writing...
Write about a ship or other vehicle that can take you somewhere different from where you are now.
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If I wanted to be sarcastic, I would say that the vessel of my choice, which could take me somewhere different, would be my thoughts. I just have to close my eyes, think and snap, I am somewhere different. But since I do not have any teleporting abilities, which is a great tragedy, I have to pick one of those tangible modes of transport.
But that is not too difficult either. I have ridden a bicycle, most of my school days, a bike for the first few years of my professional life and now drive a car. I travel my plane, if the need arises, for the convenience it offers and have also had the opportunity to travel by boat (short trips on tours, but yes, have used this mode of transport too). And the winner would be the train.
There is something about the train that appeals to the romantic in me, despite the Indian Railways being far from comfortable, I am fascinated by trains. My love affair with trains has not waned in spite of some horrible journeys I have had to make; one train was stopped somewhere at the border between Orissa and Bihar for some politically affliated student wing wanted to protest (neither the protesters nor the passengers had a clue what the protest was about); another train was took an overnight stop for it was not safe to cover the remaining two hour distance to our destination during the dark; one journey involved getting off in the middle of the night at station where the train would halt for less than a minute, and the most memorable one, the journey between Vishakhapatnam and Aruku valley. It is one of the highest broad gauge railways in the country and the journey takes you through about fifty tunnels and over nearly hundred bridges. However, the highlight is the view one gets when you look below and watch the hills fall away, which is only possible if you fight and get a place to sit at the doorway of the carriage. A very dangerous and deadly seat but worth every minute of the view.
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(Photo credit: R K Deepak)
Despite the good and bad memories, I love train journeys, each is an adventure in its own.
The train is something, which to me, symbolises man's conquest over distances. The chugging of the steam engine, the rhythmic clanging of the steel wheels over the metal tracks, the regular jangle of the inter coach couplers and the distinct click the train makes when it switches track, all are music in motion. The view from the trains, despite the speed with which the outside world whizzes past you, in a backward direction, is not to be missed. Though, if one is traveling in air conditioned coaches, one does not get a chance to enjoy the view, owing to the tightly sealed windows.
Trains capture the imagination like no other vehicle; from child to adult there is something about a train that fascinates us. Remember Sheldon and his obsession with trains or Thomas and his Friends?
Trains have changed the way we live, by enabling transport of goods across long distances. They also change our lives for though trains are messy and noisy, time taking mode of transport, a train journey is a forced relaxation, one can curl up with a book or make peace with one's thoughts or even finds new friends.
A train is romantic's dream, a dreamer's fascination and a child's thrilling playmate.
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Word count 579.
Not my finest efforts, a clogged nose seems to have dulled my thinking capacity too.
