The race for survival (slash getting on the train) - Part II

The big problem of the small bag :)

Sowmya, Siva and I try to push through the unyielding crowd at the entrance. People who didn't get their tickets still sit in the reserved compartments and do not move. I look around for the teachers. They are all comfortably seated in compartments in the middle of the coach.
The three of us can hear the travel instructor shouting; telling us to sit down and ask the others to go. We move through the crowd and sit down in free seats closest to the door; with me sitting next to the window.
          I have a hard time putting my luggage in the rack above my head- my hands are shaking violently. Behind me, I can hear Sowmya crying as silently as she can, and I remember again. The bag she left.
Sowmya's whole luggage consisted of this one medium-sized bag. Now, with my own trolley bag and backpack, I remember asking her during our first day how she managed to fit everything in. To which she replied, "It actually didn't fit. I had to squash everything in." Luckily, only that one bag was left in the station.
Everywhere around me, people check if all their friends/ classmates/  roommates / in-charge teacher (though no problems there) are inside the train. Behind me, some guy picks up a fight with the instructor, who is suddenly throwing out threats. People could be missing, and this is what they do.

I focus on Sowmya. She is making up her mind whether to call her mother or not. I ask her to make the call; and I'm faced by a chorus of a violent "No!" from the others. I try calling my Dad. The number is switched off. Then I get a Low Battery alert. I swear silently. Nothing is going well.
Two seconds later, my phone beeps.

1 missed call

Ramupa

I'm like "Huh?".... why should my cousin's Grandad call me? I leave the matter to slide. More important things are going on now...
        Meanwhile, Sowmya calls her Mom. A minute later, she ends the call, saying, "I got nice blastings from her..."  Then she turns to me and says, "There is a chance that my bag is with someone else, in another coach. The man who pushed me in said he'd give it to someone."
I say nothing, but I think that it was a very slim chance for what she said to be true. But something is still bothering me. Why should Ramupa call me now? I had just got my mobile.
And then it hit me. And I felt like hitting myself too. Hard. On the head; repeatedly. Suraj- my cousin- was using his Grandfather's number. I had stupidly saved the number in his grandfather's name, although knowing that only Suraj used it.
And he had called me. Now, when six people were missing. And I didn't hear.
I call him. The line gets disconnected immediately, and the Low Battery sign pops up again. So I send him a message.

Call me

I look at my mobile intensely, hoping that he gets it soon. Within a minute, I get a call from him.
"Hello!" I scream into the phone. I can hear someone talking, but I can make nothing out of it. I make out one word: bag. "You have Sowmya's bag?!?" I shout. From the corner of my eye, I can see Sowmya look at me like someone who has just got their whole life back. I wait for an answer.
Some more sounds, then I hear the word waiting. Uh-oh. I am scared now. "Waiting?" I shout. "In the platform? You have her bag!?" I ask, hoping that I can make out whatever answer he gives. As if on cue, the line disconnects. I swear again, and this time not too silently. From the next compartment, I hear my classmates' whispers. All of them are looking at me. Shrinithi's eyes are round, and she asks:
"Who was it?"
"My cousin, Suraj," I answer, trying to make a call again.
"Oh God, Oh God, OHGOD! I am sure that he is in the platform!!!!" She declares.
If I'd had superglue, I would've used it on her.
But I don't have the full story yet. I quickly grab Swati's cellphone and make a call. Busy. Sowmya's. The line goes, disconnects. I take my own cellphone, intending to send another message. That's when I see:

1 new message

Ramupa

I open it and read the message out loud.

We are6 of us in 13 coach we have sowmyas bag

"Yes!" I cry out. All around me in the compartment, people are giving "phew"s and "yay"s. "Habba," Sowmya says. She wipes her eyes.

I look around for a teacher. Revathi ma'am is near. I call her and quickly inform her that 6 are in the next coach. I see relief on her face and the Instructor's and immediately know that those who were thought missing were there. Just as she tells Kavitha ma'am, Vishwesh comes up to them and tells the names of those who were stuck in the next coach.

Some time later, the train stops in the next station. From my place, I can clearly see the six people getting down from the next compartment. The last one is Suraj. He has three bags; one of them Sowmya's. When they get into our coach, everybody gets up and shouts, "Suraj!" and claps. Sowmya thanks him again and again. As for me, I'm relieved it's all over and everybody's safe in the train.

So now, I have an awesome story to tell. Hair-raising, but with a happy ending.
But what some of us didn't know was that there was more to come.

The race for survival (slash getting on the train)

It all starts with a saying. In this case, what Sowmya said. We were both talking about general things when she suddenly says, "Hey, Sharada, the trip has been fun.... but I want something adventurous to happen." At my eye-rolling she adds: "Adevnturous; but not dangerous..."
If I had the power to rewind maybe I would've just clapped my hand over her mouth before she spoke. Or maybe not. Her saying this lead the incident.



  Some two hours later we reach the Salem station to board the train for Chennai. After a delay of an hour or so, I hear the sound of the train arriving and the travel-guy's instructions for boarding the train quickly. Students and teachers crowd the entries. I go to the last entrance of D-12, my coach, and suddenly stop and stare. The whole coach was occupied. Not a single seat was left out. My mind bombarded itself with questions: Is this really my coach? Is this even the correct train?? But then people are getting in, and so I gear myself too.

But I (and some others) are in for a nasty surprise. The train starts. Some aren't even in yet. By the time Anjanaa gets in, the train starts picking up speed. I jog to keep up, my heart racing. My palms are sweaty, and my backpack slides off my shoulder onto my hand. My other hand is fully occupied with the huge and heavy trolley which is seriously hampering my speed.
Behind me, Siva says casually: "Hey, maybe the train is just moving to another platform or something. It'll stop soon....." What I really wanted to do then was to go and shout at her: "Are you mad?! Either way, I am getting on the train."
  Somehow I get a hold on one of the handles of the compartment. I can hear Anjanaa screaming my name from inside. I need more support to haul myself in but my other hand is occupied and I'm still running. Dimly, in the back of my mind, a thought tells me that if I fall, I'll get seriously injured. Adrenaline surges in. Somehow, I get a better hold on the handle, put one foot on the steps and throw myself inside. The crowd milling at the entrance prevents me from falling. 
Meanwhile, Siva has just come to her senses. She is finally running, and lagging behind. I do my heroic action for the day. I stretch my hand sideways and out, and pull her inside.Siva saved.
 A second later, Sowmya practically falls on both of us inside the train. She looks at her empty hands in shock. "My bag...." she says. "I left it in the platform." She bursts into tears.

Some Adventure.