Travel Secrets India|Monsoon Issue 2016

Vibhav Bisht gives a window-seat account of his train journey from Madurai to Rameshwaram.

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Chug, Chug, Chug! The 12:30 passenger train from Madurai has just started to sing its rhythmic song, a melody it will sing for the next few hours till it reaches a mystical island called Rameshwaram. It is an overcast day in November, and rain clouds loom overhead.

Since November marks the onset of midwinter monsoon in the Southern regionof India, I pray to the rain gods to bless this journey with pleasant showers. As I cosy up on my window seat, a loud ‘Wooooooo…’ erupts from the far corner. We have just passed over a small river, and a group of seven children thrill to the crossing in seemingly pre-planned unison. From that moment onwards, every river, tunnel and bridge invites the same loud Woooo...!

The cries of the children are drowning out a fellow passenger’s efforts to speak on the phone. No matter how far he pushes his vocal chords, the Woooo washes away his attempts, just like the rain that has started outside is washing away my gloom.Within seconds the landscape has turned lush. As if God took out his shade card and chose the deepest green he could find. The smell of wet earth brings a whiff of nostalgia, and the raindrops caress my outstretched hand. Who said happiness cannot be found in small things?

We have crossed a few stations now, and the train is losing speed to halt.

This story is from the Monsoon Issue 2016 edition of Travel Secrets India.

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This story is from the Monsoon Issue 2016 edition of Travel Secrets India.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.