Rail Snegam

I had a beautiful experience when I was twelve years old. It is still very vivid in my memory. My parents and I had gone on LTC to Ooty. We went by train till Coimbatore. In our compartment, there were two girls named Charulatha and Niveditha. They were quite elder to me and nearing twenty, I think. Since I love making friends, I started conversing with them. I immediately took a liking to them. They also enjoyed talking to me. We were talking non-stop till we reached Coimbatore. They noted down my birthdate and address. I also noted down their birthdate and address. The only difference was that they noted it on paper, but I noted it on my hand. That made the big difference. When the station came, I felt so bad to part with them. They also felt the same but assured me that they would keep in touch. The bad feeling was momentary. I brightened immediately since I was going to Ooty and have a nice time there. I soon forgot about them totally. For me it was just a passing cloud and so it didn’t make a big difference for me. Since I had noted their details on my hand, after a few washes, there was no trace of anything written on it.

My birthday arrived four to five months later and as usual I went to temple and then went to school in new dress. That was my usual way of celebrating my birthday then. I didn’t have any close friends to wish me or get me gifts or ask for treat!!! Anyway, why I mentioned this is because at that time the only heartfelt wish I got for my birthday was from my parents. At school, everyone used to wish me when I distributed chocolates. Nothing more, nothing less. Since this was a routine, there was nothing very special about my birthday, except that I can wear color dress to school instead of the school uniform on that day. But this birthday was something special. When I arrived from school I got a greeting card by post. It was such a beautiful and colorful card. The card had the shape of a pussy cat which was very cute. The card is still in my eyes. That was the first time I had received a greeting card for my birthday. And it was sent by my long-lost train friends, Charulatha and Niveditha. Only then I realized what an impact I had made on them. They had remembered me and have sent me a card though it was quite a long time since we met. I was jubilant. I preserved the card like a treasure for such a long time. I felt so guilty not to have noted their addresses properly. I just knew that they lived in Tambaram. But that information alone is of no use. The card also did not have a from address. But they had just made my day. I was feeling sooooooo special. If only I get to meet them, I would like to fervently thank them for their sweet gesture which had a huge impact on me.