Yellows

I finished reading Albert Espinosa's The Yellow World in record time. I decided to have a reading marathon one day and finished a lot of the book. The premise of the book is that there are people who come into our lives for a short duration for a very specific purpose and then they leave. They are not friends and not lovers. The 'relationship' is short and provides the two people a very fulfilling interaction. Such people are called 'yellows'.

I never engage in conversations while on a train journey. I love it when I am allotted the side upper berth as that seat is my quiet haven. Its provides the kind of private ownership that is not possible in a public train. I was on a side upper berth on my trip from Calcutta to Mumbai.

There was a family consisting of parents and their two sons and another grandpa-grandson duo in my enclosure. There was one more quiet person and then there was me. The family was Catholic, spoke Konkani and were on their way to Karnataka for their Christmas holidays. The sons, about 13 and 10 years, were the typical 'Bosco boys' you encounter in Mumbai- but they were from Calcutta. Their mum, is a teacher and their dad is probably an IT professional.

Now that you have formed a picture of the family in mind, picture me- as an entertainer. Impossible right? I would think so too! However, this journey was different. The boys asked me to join in the games they were playing and I refused. But when their dad was acting out a movie while playing dumb charades, I knew the answer and helped the team score a point. I was in. From then on began countless games. I introduced them to the variety of mind games that I have come across and we had fun- both adults and children were really into the game trying to discover principles, forming hypotheses and disproving them and then finally making a breakthrough. The three boys were great in doing the mind work that is required for such games. They gradually came to know I was Catholic and Manglorean and also that we had a common friend in TFI! The world suddenly got so much smaller and familiar. The grandpa and quiet man were involved spectators chipping in when they had something to add. Through out the journey we were all offered deliciously rich Christmas cake, fresh and hot vada paos and bhajjiyas and lots of entertainment as the young boys engaged in conversations that were superficial yet very grown-up for their age.

When I left, all of us exchanged phone numbers, wished each other a merry Christmas and the youngest boy gave me a hug. I looked around and confessed that I never make friends on a train and both the 'parents' said they read that about me. I also walked a bit further to say goodbye to the grandfather who has clearly been on enough train journeys to see that these relationships, no matter how genuine, are transient.

If Albert Espinosa's book is anything to go by, I just had an encounter with 'yellows'. Next train journey, I am sure, I will still hope that I am allocated the side upper, but in all other respects, journeys henceforth will not be the same.