They
say I’m cold blooded, the sight of me makes them scream with fear, being chased
by brooms and shoes has become more like a hobby and all those two legged
creatures want to do is kill me. I was born with six legs and I live in a blue
box, actually a lot of blue boxes, it’s called a TRAIN apparently. I have
relatives in America and Australia, but I came out of an egg that was laid in a
place where people seem to speak so many different languages I’m
surprised no one has hissed back at me yet, so colourful I feel so sober here
with my brown wings. It doesn't get so cold in here except for the A.C compartments where I've also come across some different people,
mostly to themselves, less loud but the frequency of their shrill when they see
me - did not know I was such an eye candy. Well it goes without saying that professionally I am a nibbler,I am sure no other eerie creature would have tasted the kind of food i've tasted here, so much variety. The AC compartment does get boring thats when my antennas lead to me to the general compartment for some entertainment.humans are funny creatures,probably because their brains are high up there unlike us cut our heads and we'r still alive.
I have traveled with many of you’ll to
different places, most of you’ll would have seen me, disgusted by me, but I
manage to escape to every dirty nook and corner where your huge eye balls can
never reach, listening to your stories some sad, some happy, some endless, and
most of them which never did make any sense (usually happens when two young
individuals of the opposite sex sit together, we usually don’t have to try so
hard ) but this is my story the story of a cockroach your most feared co
traveler, the most loyal passenger of the Indian railways
I live at the edge of life.to survive is a risk for
us cockroaches I only fear two things in my life, the first one being- me
ending up in a biology lab traumatized mercilessly by a bunch of confused
students, they get the jitters even when we’re dead. I thought size
mattered these days. The second fear being eaten up by Cambodians. They tag us
as ‘filthy’ yet they eat us, funny things indeed. But yes it goes without
saying that humans are gifted with a good set of taste buds. Because it is
their food that gives us a purpose in our lives. Because otherwise we are a
very simple species no big dreams of being a billionaire, white collar job, no
Ferrari, no Louis Vuitton, no themed weddings, no debts, no relationships, no
size zero just nibble some pieces of your food and get it down our alimentary
canal and yes I’m pretty sure your biology would have thought you the further
steps.
Life
here is chaotic. Helter skelter, humans stamping each other’s feet, dropping
their heavy luggage and when they do this it’s an earthquake for us all the
time by the way. It’s a good thing we don’t have vocal chords and that’s why we don’t have
chai wallahs and food vendors but I have utmost respect for them because it’s
their high decibel yelling and chanting that keeps me alive and awake (they've always disturbed my
siesta). And then there’s that white paper u people always fret about ‘THE
TICKET’ and all the melodrama with the TTE - quite a theatrical site for me.
For me action time is when the darkness sets in. The background music suddenly changes to loud snores, they come in all types alto, soprano and some unidentifiable types .During this night orchestra I start my explorations aimlessly crawling through the seats, the dirty creaks, sometimes even over laptop screens, book pages, newspapers, smelly shoes, coloured suitcases, and yes I even crawl over you when your dreaming about sand castles and mermaids, for this is an endless adventure for me where I have no treasure to find but travel where the railway track leads me. Coming straight to the point the next time u happen to travel in my same berth do bring some traditionally prepared home food because unfortunately I’m not a big fan of junk food. Without the suffocating hugs, awkward kisses, and the filmy running behind the train and the hand to hand through the transparent window good byes I would like to bid adieu by saying just one thing– 'please, don’t carry me home'!!! ;)
