It was a sunday afternoon. The railway station was packed with people returning to their respective towns after the weekend. The train from Chennai to Bangalore was about to arrive in the platform. There was a long queue in the counter with people rushing to buy unreserved tickets. Every tenth person in the platform was a software engineer working in Bangalore with a laptop bag and a water bottle. In this mad crowd I saw two little kids running around their mom's saree. They looked so similar, yes, they were twins. Amazing is god's creation, one would think on seeing those active buds. Their mother was about 30 years old, and definitely resembled a working woman in bangalore. She was carrying a big suitcase and a small bag on the shoulder which had biscuits and fruits for the journey. The two KG kids with enormous amount of charm and energy were giving her enough trouble as they all waited for the train to arrive.
I was travelling alone and I went and got myself introduced to the mother. Her name was Sowmya and came to know from her that she was working as a technical writer in a software firm. Bharath and Sharath were the kids:) She looked a bit relieved after i joined them as I started to engage both the children. It was a welcome change for me to play with kids from my usual routine laptop-life. I started telling a short story to both of them. As I started narrating, Bharath said,"Akka! enna paathu sollunga.." when I realised that I was looking at Sharath's eyes when I started the story. I smiled and nodded at Bharath when Sharath started getting angry. Then we came to a pact of equal stares at both of them as the story had to progress. Their mom had a small nap in the meanwhile. After the story was over, Sharath went running to the edge of the platform! Sowmya screamed "No Sharath, inga vaa!" And before she could bring him here the other one went behind a dog which was wandering on the platform. As the train was expected to arrive anytime, both me and Sowmya caught both of them and made them stay close. I admired Sowmya's patience between all this and every now and then she would hug and kiss one of them as they talked to her. Nothing like a mother!
Finally the train arrived and we all got into the compartment. Kids get excited in trains, and Bharath and Sharath were no exceptions. Not even a moment they could remain sitting. As soon as the train started Bharath climbed to the upper birth. Sharath had a wound on his knee and was not able to climb on his own. As anyone would expect, He cried his life out to get on to the same birth. The train slowly picked up speed and we were out of Chennai in about twenty minutes. Only me and Sowmya were there in the bay. We were talking about our work and life and bangalore when the kids had finished their first game and were restless already. Sowmya made them come down and gave them some fruits which she had brought. A vendor passed by shouting "Vadai vadai". Bharath said "Enakku vadai venum" and Sharath also joined him. Though Sowmya was totally not for getting them outside food, this time she could not do much. She got two plates of vada and gave one to each. When Sharath was looking out through the window, Bharath stole a small piece of his vada. There broke the first battle. Then the journey was a war series and peace movement by Sowmya. All through this process, She was controlling her anger and trying to calm them down. I kept observing everything and helping the peace maker occasionally.
There was a bar of choclate that was peeping from my laptop bag. One of my colleagues gave it to me when I started. Bharath found it first and he immediately bit it into two halves, and gave one to Sharath. I was wondering how he did this spontaneously. Sowmya had a sweet smile when she saw this and showed a sign of relief as there was some silence in the compartment. I was looking outside the window and feeling the breeze. Every now and then Sowmya would get up and check what the kids were doing, wherever they were. Can anyone believe that a sheet of white paper caused the next tremor? I had to write down notes for a meeting on monday and took out my notepad and pen. I gave the kids a sheet of paper to play with. Both of them wanted to draw on it and started fighting again. Sowmya reached her threshold, stood up grabbed the paper, crushed it and threw it on the floor. Sharath was the one who was drawing and started crying immediately. Sowmya still stayed angry and silent. Bharath went, picked up the crushed paper, came near Sharath and said, "Azhaada daa, kasangina enna, naan veetla poi iron panni tharen..".
I was so surprised how the kid went and consoled the other. It was so sweet to observe those two kiddies. Children are totally unpredictable! They seamlessly teach us a lot more than we think! The rest of the journey went by watching the kids sleep. Soon we reached Bangalore, I bid good bye to all the three and went back home smiling:)
I was travelling alone and I went and got myself introduced to the mother. Her name was Sowmya and came to know from her that she was working as a technical writer in a software firm. Bharath and Sharath were the kids:) She looked a bit relieved after i joined them as I started to engage both the children. It was a welcome change for me to play with kids from my usual routine laptop-life. I started telling a short story to both of them. As I started narrating, Bharath said,"Akka! enna paathu sollunga.." when I realised that I was looking at Sharath's eyes when I started the story. I smiled and nodded at Bharath when Sharath started getting angry. Then we came to a pact of equal stares at both of them as the story had to progress. Their mom had a small nap in the meanwhile. After the story was over, Sharath went running to the edge of the platform! Sowmya screamed "No Sharath, inga vaa!" And before she could bring him here the other one went behind a dog which was wandering on the platform. As the train was expected to arrive anytime, both me and Sowmya caught both of them and made them stay close. I admired Sowmya's patience between all this and every now and then she would hug and kiss one of them as they talked to her. Nothing like a mother!
Finally the train arrived and we all got into the compartment. Kids get excited in trains, and Bharath and Sharath were no exceptions. Not even a moment they could remain sitting. As soon as the train started Bharath climbed to the upper birth. Sharath had a wound on his knee and was not able to climb on his own. As anyone would expect, He cried his life out to get on to the same birth. The train slowly picked up speed and we were out of Chennai in about twenty minutes. Only me and Sowmya were there in the bay. We were talking about our work and life and bangalore when the kids had finished their first game and were restless already. Sowmya made them come down and gave them some fruits which she had brought. A vendor passed by shouting "Vadai vadai". Bharath said "Enakku vadai venum" and Sharath also joined him. Though Sowmya was totally not for getting them outside food, this time she could not do much. She got two plates of vada and gave one to each. When Sharath was looking out through the window, Bharath stole a small piece of his vada. There broke the first battle. Then the journey was a war series and peace movement by Sowmya. All through this process, She was controlling her anger and trying to calm them down. I kept observing everything and helping the peace maker occasionally.
There was a bar of choclate that was peeping from my laptop bag. One of my colleagues gave it to me when I started. Bharath found it first and he immediately bit it into two halves, and gave one to Sharath. I was wondering how he did this spontaneously. Sowmya had a sweet smile when she saw this and showed a sign of relief as there was some silence in the compartment. I was looking outside the window and feeling the breeze. Every now and then Sowmya would get up and check what the kids were doing, wherever they were. Can anyone believe that a sheet of white paper caused the next tremor? I had to write down notes for a meeting on monday and took out my notepad and pen. I gave the kids a sheet of paper to play with. Both of them wanted to draw on it and started fighting again. Sowmya reached her threshold, stood up grabbed the paper, crushed it and threw it on the floor. Sharath was the one who was drawing and started crying immediately. Sowmya still stayed angry and silent. Bharath went, picked up the crushed paper, came near Sharath and said, "Azhaada daa, kasangina enna, naan veetla poi iron panni tharen..".
I was so surprised how the kid went and consoled the other. It was so sweet to observe those two kiddies. Children are totally unpredictable! They seamlessly teach us a lot more than we think! The rest of the journey went by watching the kids sleep. Soon we reached Bangalore, I bid good bye to all the three and went back home smiling:)
