The views and opinions expressed in this article are personal and do not reflect the views or
the official policy of Ashoka University, Sports Ministry, Her Campus, and Her Campus Ashoka
University.
By: Sonal Duggar
In October 2018, I travelled to Gwalior with my other two teammates – now, dear friends –
for a national chess tournament. This is a brief anecdotal record I secretly wrote right after
getting off the train.
Filled to capacity, stood a small indigo suitcase carrying prints of the Eiffel tower and the
Singapore flyer with a big ‘London’ carved in a beautiful font.
Her conscience was awake, but eyes still shut. Aisha got up half-hearted and stood under the
shower lukewarm as herself. The chockfull indigo, unzipped for the last time to stuff in
toothbrush, toothpaste, facewash and shampoo. She took along an azure shoulder bag for
carrying things that she thought she couldn’t do with, a pair of earphones (for the playlist she
had prepared and the films she had downloaded last night), a fresh novel (that she thought
she’d easily complete and might have to take two instead), a pen and a notebook. Some five
packets of chips (large ones) and a dozen of chocolates that her younger sister insistently
squashed into her bag simply because the idea of packing stuff into bags thrilled her.
She hugged her mother, shouted goodbye to her sister in the bathroom, and sat in the car
beside her father. A quarter of the way after, they stopped and waited for Ruhi and Tia. Tia’s
father had agreed to drop the three girls to the railway station where Ms. Alta awaited them.
The car drive was silent except when Tia’s father narrated anecdotes addressing her and
Ruhi. Aisha was older by a year. At the station, Alta greeted them. She was petite, her hair
was coarse at the top while the ends were spiky straight, she wore a lipstick brighter than the
morning sun and utterly prominent was her regional accent when she spoke. Nevertheless,
one glimpse of her and one could tell that she was a lady of her own will.
They said goodbyes and boarded the train. Ruhi sat near the window, Tia in the middle and
Aisha near the aisle. Ms. Alta perched very contentedly across the aisle after having hung her
colossal purse on the knob in front and tugging her legs into a cross with her lilac slippers
placed neatly below her seat. The train started to move, the girls had their earphones plugged
in already, each of them gazing outside the window at the receding details.
Shortly, two attendants in dull grey clothes arrived, each carrying about twenty platters in his
arms and began to distribute them. It had three small rectangular containers, inside them were
cutlet and fries, bread and jam, some biscuits, a muffin and a juice container. After cleaning
her plate flawlessly, Ms. Alta had a look at the three who had been utterly selective with their
breakfast items and pointed towards the ketchup sachets, biscuits, tissue papers and then
quietly towards her purse. The girls looked at each other amusingly, and quickly handed all
the leftover to Ms. Alta. Then, Tia suggested they play some game. Ruhi and Aisha pulled
out their earphones. One word and you’ve to speak out what comes to your mind
immediately. They spoke of everything – rain, train, fart, school, friends, family, crushes and
Ms. Alta, of course. Once they’d had their kick out of it, they started to click pictures and
make boomerangs of each other and the outside panoramas.