Attention passengers!

 I developed a liking for train journeys ever since I got into a train. Well, that was a very long time ago and I do not  remember the particulars of my first train journey. But I am sure that travelling by rail continues to have the spell that it has always had, no matter what.
 When I say train journeys, I mean not just the journey, but everything that is associated with it- be it the railway stations, the meandering railway tracks, the yellow coloured name plates, both familiar and strange, and of course the train announcements that break the hustle and bustle of the railway station.
The presence of a moving train or a quaint railway station has a special aura around it, which a photographic or a filmic representation captures with robust. And what is this aura about- I don't really know. The aura somehow seems so palpable to my senses.
Whenever I am set out for a train journey, I hope that the train is not crowded and that I get to sit near the window.
Train journeys surprise me all the time. It transports me, literally from a rushy and crowded station to the most serene and beautiful landscapes in minutes. These are the kind of places I wish I could jump off just like that :). Places where you feel the air is crisp and grass on the ground soft and moist. Places that seem untouched by worry or care. Places I don't mind getting lost in.

 Crossing the green waters glowing under the risen sun- I have forgotten myself and the purpose of my journey, lost in such a sight many a times.Train journeys ( I don't fancy long train journeys and over night travels; I prefer short ones) not just take you to your destinations, it sail you across locales that are a poet's paradise.

The recurrent glimpse of the egret- buffalo camaraderie on a river bank , the assorted travelers at a check post (parents with their uniform clad kids, the vegetable vendors, the monotonously dressed sales girls, the college-goers, carefree men in their lungis on their cycles and motorcycles) who have paused all at once for the train to pass, are sights that only a train ticket can buy you.

 It surprises me to think that having lived in Kerala for so many years, there are rivers, lakes and bridges yet to be crossed. And so many more sights to be savored through the rusty old window sills.
The black letters on the yellow board invites me with an infectious charm as I plan my next travel.

As I put this photo, I realise that I have just one picture clicked with (the hero of my story) The Train.
This snap, taken en-route to Goa is from a station I couldn't resist getting down at.