Some railway journeys are never forgotten.

 

That final whistle for our coolie –
To get off the train,
And always in high alert –
Daddy recounting the baggage pieces.

 

The coal-fed-engine chugging along
Landscape of buzzing sorts.
Here among the halts,
The stations filled with teeming hawkers.

 

Although life has grown more comfortable
Than those days,
The excitement over Mama’s home cooked food,
Thrills my memory till now!

 

In my mind to retain a symbiotic bond
With the sways of trains,
I cannot forget the Frontier Mail.
The train that spoke of love and mirth.

 

Those trips from Amritsar to Delhi,
The movements to and from –
Were synonymous with sheer pleasure.
What else are holidays for?

 

Some railway journeys are never forgotten.

 

Dubai
2016

 

Geeta Chhabra