My Travelogue II

Traveling alone is a painful experience. Not just for the loneliness but for the way other people treat you. Before all family men(FM) you will appear like a social outcast. Especially in train,if you are traveling alone, your seat number doesn't matter at all as you will teleported so many times to different locations until you end up with a group of outcasts like you. A typical situation goes like this,

You would have just settled in your designated seat. Suddenly you will notice one of the family man in your bay getting excited. Thats the first alert for you. At that moment if you have a music player, put it on your ears immediately. It doesn't matter whether it is charged or it actually works. In fact you don't even need a player, just an ear phone will do (use your intelligence here !!). Even after that if that family man murmurs something to any member of his family tree rooted there, its a second alert. Your first technique did not work as expected.

Now the best strategy is to use your mobile phone. Its up to the intellectual bend of your brain to use this technique effectively. You might call customer care and ask how you got 50 paise extra in last month bill or you might call your friend whom you never called in your lifetime and give a shock or surprise. If you have a girlfriend,well,this is the best situation to show your love towards her. Brag about how you gonna miss her, how happily you spent time with her (Though you would be back in two days,it doesn't matter!!!You got to save yourself now !!!). It is better to leave your seat, may be to the door as you can't have romantic talks in front of family men(It is considered as a biggest blunder and you will be treated like a felon.So careful !!!). It has added advantages too as most of them would not come searching for you to teleport you. Wait there until most of them settle in their places.It reduces the chance of getting teleported as family men generally hesitate to leave their place after settling there(In life too !!!)

Even after the implementation of the above techniques if they wait for you to talk to you then your situation is very critical. Now no intellectual bend can save you. But put the burden on god and try your best as it also depends on how intelligent the other person is,in convincing you.

Family Man : Excuse me, Are you traveling alone ?
You : Err,No my friend will board in hosur.
Family Man : ahh hmm,But our bay is already full. Which is his berth ?(You can notice him getting scared as he gets doubts on the reservation chart and he would start checking his train ticket to check whether he has done any mistakes in positioning his family tree)
You : No, He doesn't belong here (No other go sadly !!)
Family man(Bit irritated) : So you are alone here,in this bay?
You : Hmm ya (Trapped !!)
Family Man : SO can you shift to coach s5,seat 6 .My dad's friend's uncle's daughter-in-law is alone?? (If you are a frequent traveler you would know that its upper berth.So use that fact)
You : Is it lower berth?
Family Man : arrgh,No...
You : Hmm sorry,I got hamstring and cramp. So I wish to settle in lower berth.
Family Man : err but you are already alloted upper berth only ???
You : I will be exchanging it with my friend who is boarding in hosur.( Now you get why I introduced a new friend at the beginning!!!).

You are almost saved now. But there will be some exceptional situations in which you will see the family man's face getting bright.

Family Man : That is great. My son's friend's dad's father is in coach s8,seat 4. It is lower berth. Can you shift there?I will carry the luggages for you (trust me ,it never happened !!)
You : grrrr,ok (I feel sorry for you,can't be helped !!!)

Once you reach your new place and try to settle yourself, you will hear an anxious voice

Voice: Excuse me, Are you traveling alone ???????

GOD SAVE THE WORLD !!!!!!!

As a bachelor I always have dreams about who is going to travel with me that day. I imagine a lot of romantic situations (Ruined by movies I guess !!!) but I always end up in situations like this.