I was travelling in an express train that was to take more than six hours to reach the city of my destination. I was sitting in a side seat in the air conditioned compartment. The cabin was occupied by two families seated on lower berths. It was a coincidence that they were young couples in the same age group, each having a son, about 5-6 years old. Soon after the train chugged out of the station both families spread out bed sheets and settled down to a comfortable long journey. As it happens, both families kept to themselves for about an hour. There was no communication between them. Occasionally, they would cast a casual look at each other but uttered not a word.
I could read from their faces that the strange fellows wanted to break the ice and were only waiting for the right opportunity. However, the kids wasted no time. Initially, the little ones would look at each other, make gestures and then look at their parents as if silently asking, “Can we make friends?” The mothers only gave a shy smile but remained quiet.
The men also pretended to remain unconcerned. Then, one of them smilingly nodded to his son to go ahead. The other one did the same. Finally, he spoke out, “Children, you know, make wonderful ambassadors”. The other man responded with “Yeah, yeah I know”. The kids had done their job. Now it was for their parents to pick up the thread from where the little ones had left. The two young men introduced themselves and their spouses, exchanged visiting cards and dwelt on their professional matters in an atmosphere of perfect bonhomie.
Suddenly, the twosome had become so close that they promised to visit each other’s place at the first available opportunity. Wearing broad grins, the ladies also pledged to remain in touch.
And that was the beginning of a long chatting and chattering session. The topics ranged from the travails of travelling, unhygienic conditions inside coaches and at platforms, widespread corruption, spiralling prices, deteriorating law and order, the current political scenario in the country, its future and what not. Since the subjects touched upon everybody’s life, the discussions attracted some of the co-passengers.
A young man from the upper berth was mechanically endorsing all that was being said below. Interestingly, there was complete identity of views between the two main actors almost on every point.
The focus then shifted to the political class that was unanimously blamed for all the ills in the country. So far so good. But fissures appeared among the debaters the moment political parties were brought into the picture.
I could see that politics was one subject that ignited an otherwise sombre debate. The two young men turned out to belong to opposite camps, owing allegiance to diametrically opposite political groups and ideologies. That threatened to put their newfound friendship in jeopardy. It looked strange that the two young men who had become chums were now virtually at each other’s throats. Both had the backing of their supporters in the crowd around them. The two sides were quite confident that after the elections, their favourite political group would form the next government. Dissenters in the crowd brought in a third combination that they said would run the country. At times, I felt like intervening but preferred to stay away. I was reminded of an instruction that used to be painted inside private buses in the 1940s. It said, “Please do not discuss politics in the bus”.
My destination had arrived. As I prepared to leave, I noticed that the heated debate was still on. Passions were running high. The spirit of bonhomie had given way to bad blood.
Lalit Raizada is a journalist based in India.
