Sunday, March 4, 2012

when the journey means more than the destination

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 25; the Silver Edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The topic for this month is 'When Journey Meant More Than Destination'.
Sitting on one of the seats of the waiting room with his head dug into the newspaper, he seemed to be least bothered about the world around him. fine lines of seclusion ran through out his forehead.his cheeks showed no traces of a 'smile' since a long time..Ravi's train was 2 hours late than its usual time, and he had nothing to do other than read to pass his solitary lifestyle.

 Newspaper long read,he was lost in thoughts regarding how his life changed in the past few years. Economic depression hitting the Indian markets,had turned him on the verge of a pauper. The financial crisis  which had drawn upon him , had drained all this money , lifestyle, status that meant a lot to him and which he had earned with so much of dedication, passion and hard labour of day and night. They were something  for which he had let go everything , even  his love 'Rashmi' .and now when the old age had beckoned him the downfall had hit him hard.

. His chain of thoughts broke when someone occupied the seat adjacent to him . Other than a slightly voluptuous body and a healthy glow form his face, they both seemed to be of same age.

"Hey are you Ravi, of St. Anselums College ?"
"Yes, how do you know ? " said Ravi turning his face towards the man beside him.His face showed signs of recovery .
 " are you ...mmmm....Ajay ?"
" Yes you are right !Its nice meeting you here" said Ajay hugging Ravi.
" its been soooo long since collage, must have been around 40 years or so since we have met!!!!! ": how are  you  and what are you doing here ? where are you off to? inquired Ajay with childlike delight.
" haha....too many questions together!! ...well I am going to Pune , my train is 2 hrs late, hence i am waiting here" answered Ravi.
" well, I am off to my daughters home, its been long since I met my grandchildren, I have finally got the time to visit them"
" wow ! that's great.." replied Ravi.
" hey do you remember  Mr gupta? our professor? you were his favorite, I don't know why but he used to stare at me a  lot!! ..hahaha....God Ravi, you were so studious "
" yeah, they were  old golden days , life was so much fun then, and yes, I remember you were one  who never took studies seriously ..It was a  mystery to me that how did you turn up to be a mediocre  because I always thought that you were going to fail! haha.."
"yeah , I enjoyed my life , I used to study too,but had more of fun !....and life is fun today too!!! "
"so , what did you do after collage? "
" well , I got into a job as assistant manager....got married....God blessed me with two children. I traveled a lot, saw the whole of India and a few place abroad too!! "
" I have been to many places too , but mostly for my business trips! "
" haha ..seriously ? well., I retired  around 5 years ago as a head of department, in the mean while I got my son and daughter married ! , I live with my son these days, he has two daughters ,and my daughter a son . Now my world revolves around my  wife and three grandchildren. In short I lived a happy life , despite all its ups and downs . .so this ends my story , what about yours? " said Ajay.
"well, after collage  i bagged a job  in one of the most prestigious firm of the nation , grew with time. Latter I left and opened up my own firm of share broking,and every thing is great since then.! "
"what about your personal life?"
"oh, yeah, i married a girl and have a son who lives in US"
"wow, you seem to be having a  great career and personal life! "
"yeah !"Ravi.
At heart he was lying , his wife and son  were busy in their own , enjoying with the money and living a lavish life, where as he was suffering every day !

" wow , time to leave now ! my train is going to approach the platform very soon. "
: vine meeting you , here is my mobile no. we will catch up soon! "
"sure friend , this is my no.  call up any time."

" Hey Ajay , do u remember Rashmi ? she  was our batch mate , do u know any of her whereabouts?"
"yeah , i do know her,and the matter of fact is she is love of my life and...my wife too !"


train approached the station ...Ajay got into the train  and soon dissapeared with it


Mean while, Ravi was startled after hearing the fact! ....the world seem to be moving in slow motion , and he felt like being transported 42 years back !

"RAVI, you never loved me , the only thing you love is money and success. In future too it will never be us . you never have time for me.I will always second in your life.".
this is what Rashmi said before leaving him.!





PS:  Our life is a journey and old age and death our final destination. its an inevitable fact. what matters is the fact that how do we live it like.! many of us work hours together to achieve the materialistic lifestyle but forget  those who are really important to us. this is just a gentle reminder to every one ...after all its the journey that matters more...not the destination :)

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

21 comments:

  1. << At heart he was lieing , his wife and son were busy in their own , enjoying with the money and living a lavish life, where as he was suffering every day !>>

    Did not understand this part of the story. Also Ajay recognizing Ravi after a gap of 40 years is also little dramatic. People's appearance changes a lot in 40 years. Maybe, they should have some casual conversation - something that begins from a city, a college, batch ...slowly leading to recognition of each other.

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    1. thanks a lot aativas , I will keep that in mind! :)
      and that part meant that. Ravi was pretending to be happy fellow in front of his friend but was not in reality!
      thanks a lot for commenting.....its the first comment i have received on my blog!!

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  2. A nice & different interpretation of the title..

    loved the way you expained that in your last paragraph... Keep Writing.. Al lthe best for BAT-25

    Cheers..!! :)

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    1. thanks a lot !! your appreciation made my day! :)
      best wishes to you too!

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  3. hmmm the stroy is again related to TRAIN and WAITING ... i hope Journey and Destination need not to be, only associated or based on traveling.

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    1. hmmm well I dont think that the story was based on traveling! anyways you may have a different perspective !!! Glad that you read my story .....thanks :D

      all the best for BAT!

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  4. a different tale told in a good way.. I do agree with your last paragraph. 'There is something more than money in life, and that's love' Hope you remember this sentence.. It is absolutely true that the journey matters not the destination.. Beautifully done.. All the best for BAT...!

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    1. Yes , well said SIS! .there is a lot more to life than money! I will surely remember that!!!!
      thanks a lot for your appreciation! best of luck to you too!!! :)

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  5. Aah well, I was guessing the end from the very beginning.
    Probably because you might find something similar if you read my last BAT post.
    Here's the link : Black and White

    All the best! :)

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    1. haha! Guess we have similar line of thinking!! that's why you could guess the end form the beginning!! great!! :P
      just kidding!
      will surely go through the post! thanks for the link!

      best wishes to you too! :)

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  6. Nice story about retrospection. :)
    All the best for BAT. :)

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    1. thanks a lot D2 !!
      best of luck to you too! :)

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  7. Good try!! All the best for BAT :)

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    1. thanks for going through my post!
      same to you too! :)

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  8. Very well written... We realize the importance of something only if it is no longer present. Same with the Family...

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  9. Thanks a lot vikram!!! i am glad that you liked it!!
    and totally agree with you!! :)

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  10. nicely done. I liked it. All the best for BaT

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  11. life's come a full circle! - interesting!
    All the best for BAT!

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  12. nice story and the last paragraph summarized your thoughts well.. all the best for BAT

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  13. Nice flow in the story but you need to be a bit careful about the grammar & spacing of paragraphs to improve the readability..ATB for BAT!

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  14. Nice story...at the end of our lives, who knows how much satisfied we would be ... All the best for BATOM :)

    Just one suggestion, the transparent background and the big letters are a bit uncomfortable to eyes.. just a thought, as a reader..

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