Book Excerpt: Baatein Beyond Borders - Unplanned Encounters that Enrich the Soul by Antarik Anwesan

Read an exclusive excerpt from Antarik Anwesan’s Baatein Beyond Borders– Unplanned Encounters that Enrich the Soul (Notion Press 2024)

Chapter 5: A Train, a Town and Two Conversations

February 2017

Couple of months later, I headed to Pondicherry, the former French colonial settlement in the South of India. On an impulsive whim, my friends Sayali, Yogita, and I secured last-minute tickets for the Chennai Express from Mumbai. Our rendezvous point: Chennai, where we’d meet up with the rest of our group, including Neeraj, Jyoti, and Lavanya from my Bhutan-Darjeeling adventure.

I took the train from Mumbai’s Dadar station in the evening, and the girls climbed aboard at Pune later at night. I was disappointed on checking the train’s route – it does not take the route via Dudhsagar Falls in Goa, unlike what the SRK-starrer movie had made me believe. Dudhsagar Falls will have to wait for now.
The next morning as we sat together and caught up on our lives, I overheard the lady occupying the berth in front of us, talking on the phone, and realised it was her birthday. She must be in her mid-40s. She was disappointed that her entire birthday would be spent alone on the train.

The train stopped at Guntakal. Sayali and I got down to stretch our legs and wondered what we could get for breakfast.

“I have a packed chocolate bar cake in my bag,” I told her. And that’s when the thought struck me.

“Let’s get that lady to cut the cake?” I suggested.

“But are you sure it’s her birthday?” Sayali enquired.

“That’s what it seemed like from her phone call. I am 99% positive.”

“Let’s do it. Even if it’s not her birthday, we will have a good laugh and can share the cake.”

As the train started moving, I got the cake out. Yogita, meanwhile, had been briefed on the plan. But the three of us simply kept looking at each other wondering who should face the likely embarrassment by making the first move.

“One of you should do it. Since you are girls, she would be less uncomfortable,” I uttered wise words.

Although she was sitting right in front of us, she seemed engrossed in her thoughts, and we hoped that she wouldn’t notice our laughter and whispers.

As the train passed through an area of huge boulders and windmills, we opened the small cake packet, realised we didn’t have a knife, borrowed a plastic spoon from another co-passenger to be used as a knife, and gently put the cake in front of the lady.

We hadn’t spoken a word to her until then.

She looked at us, puzzled. We started singing the birthday song. The other passengers in the coach joined in.

She was taken by surprise and with a huge smile on her face, cut the cake, overwhelmed. Phew, it was indeed her birthday!

“Is this eggless?” somebody asked.

I checked the pack. There was a red mark. It wasn’t.

“I am sorry, I can’t have it since I am a pure vegetarian,” the lady told us. But the smile on her face couldn’t hide her exhilaration at the surprise.

A round of introductions followed. We got to know Prema was on her way home in Chennai after dropping her son at the hostel.

Multiple times that day, she shared the story with people who called her to wish for her birthday. Sayali, Yogita and I simply kept smiling.

Just before we were to reach Chennai, Prema shared something we didn’t expect. She told us that she lost her mother a few months back and showed us a poem she wrote for her the previous night when she was deeply missing her. It was a dedication to her mother, a longing of a daughter to be with her lost parent.

“I was so disappointed that I was not with my family today on my birthday. My mom is no longer with us, but the way you guys surprised me this morning—with the cake cutting on the train—and the fact that we don’t even know each other, I don’t think I can ever forget this.

Sorry that I couldn’t have the cake. But all of this today made me believe that it’s my mother’s way of blessing me on my birthday. Thank you so much.”

The three of us sat there with absolutely no idea what to say or how to react. We just smiled at her.

Our seemingly whimsical idea, casually tossed around for a stranger, carried a deeper significance for Prema.

Travel may not pay us monetarily like a regular workplace, but it does give us heartwarming stories to tell. Plus, whether we realise it or not, we end up sprinkling a bit of joy in other people’s lives. And perhaps, train rides give the best opportunities for tales like these to unfold.

Excerpted with permission from Antarik Anwesan, author of Baatein Beyond Borders – Unplanned Encounters that Enrich the Soul (Published by Notion Press, 2024)

About the Book

Ever wondered how to overcome the first-day jitters in a foreign land? Is solo travel your thing? Curious about the easiest way to strike up a conversation with a stranger? Intrigued by the idea of exploring offbeat adventures? Ever peeked into a volcano’s crater and seen its secrets from the rim? And are Thai massages as exotic as they sound?

Baatein Beyond Borders is an autobiographical account of tales of travel, where Antarik Anwesan, an introverted wanderer, unfolds a decade-long saga of life, locales, and lucid conversations. Rejecting social norms, he heads out on a profound quest for meaning and the elusive pursuit of inner peace, while grappling with finances and charting a resume the professional world doesn’t appreciate.

Join this literary expedition where seemingly ordinary exchanges birth extraordinary tales. It’s an invitation to wander, wonder, and relish the magic of shared stories that transcend borders, leaving an indelible mark on the soul.

About the Author

Antarik Anwesan grew up in Sambalpur, India. A journalism graduate, he initially embraced a career in digital media in Mumbai. However, the allure of travel and storytelling led him to chart a new course. At the age of 24, he inadvertently took a bold step, bidding farewell to the corporate world to embark on a transformative journey. In 2017, one of his travel stories earned a spot in an international anthology, as one of the ‘80 most inspirational travel stories’ from around the world.

Eventually, he ventured into the realm of video storytelling, fueled by a love for shooting and editing travel content. When he’s not busy documenting adventures or pouring over Google Maps planning his next one, Antarik can be found in Himalayan towns, contemplating life, love, and the exact number of steps to the nearest momo shop.