His search of happiness

Monotone had become his life’s mantra. He had become more of a machine than a human being. It was time to break the routine. It was time to go in search of happiness. He remembered the first time he had done something like this and smiled. It was crazy to follow the heart but it was worth it. It gave him happiness.

He checked his last month’s pay slip. He had quite a few leaves in his kitty. He smiled and made a mental plan. A few hours later he had applied for leaves in office, booked his tickets, packed his bags and done some online research on the place he was traveling to. He was en route to the railway station to catch the evening train.

The journey to the station was slow and painstaking due to the heavy traffic and dug up roads, but he didn’t care. The station was overcrowded with people rushing for their trains and he had a tough time in reaching his platform. Once inside the train after a lot of pushing and shouting, he took up the upper berth and started reading a novel. He wanted to slip down and glance outside the window, but he forced himself not to. There was no point in looking out of the window. The train started moving and with in an hour it was dark. He slipped down to the lower berth and had a quick dinner. He then returned to his upper berth, set an alarm on his cell phone and dozed off.

Beep..Beep. It was five. He stretched himself and made way to the door of his bogey. It was still dark and he was happy that he was up early enough. He opened the door and the cool night air hit him hard. It was chilly and it made him shiver and his bones rattled. But it was fresh and pure, unlike the polluted city. He sat down on the door with his legs hanging out. He took out the magnetic compass from his pocket and adjusted his sitting position accordingly. He then lit a cigarette and waited.

Exactly seven minutes later there was glow on the horizon towards the east. The first ray of light peeped out of the groping darkness. The sky turned magenta with its birth. The ray made the green fields look golden and it seemed that nature danced wherever the ray touched it. It was a fascinating site. Within a few minutes dawn turned into day. The sun was up in full glory. The sky was blue and the earth was green. There was no human structure in sight and he was thrilled at this virginity of nature. Back home, the urbanization had literally raped nature. The mountains, the green forests, the rivers, the birds, the air everything had a heavenly feel to it. They all looked happy. He wanted to be a part of their happiness.

Quickly he made his way back to his seat, collected his backpack. He then looked around at the sleeping passengers and pulled the chain.

As the train screeched to a halt, he was back at the door staring into the face of happiness.

He jumped down from the stationary train and made his way into the wild. He was happy.