How strange frienships form

I was travelling alone, probably for the first time. That too in unreserved class, which is notorious for being very crowded.

As I got into the train at Kottayam(the Trivandrum-Chennai mail), I was a little afraid. What if I don't get a seat and have to stand through the whole night? What if I do get a seat, but the person next to me happens to be a crook. What if he was a biscuit bandit? What if he drugged me and took away my "precious" belongings(which was a set of unwashed clothes, two stale dosas from the refreshment room and a water bottle)?

With all these thoughts still on my head, I got a seat thankfully. The guy sitting next to me was engrossed in a Tamil magazine, into which I frequently peeped. In one of these peeps started the conversation. Where are you from dude? What do u do? Where are u going? Where did u study and what... and the conversation went into the night.

Unfortunately for the new-found friendship(but fortunately for my tired eyes), I got a full berth at 12. And as he was gonna get down around 2, I went up to sleep. Knowing the struggle I face to get up, I bid him bye after exchanging email addresses and phone numbers.

That was the end of a three-hour super cool friendship - three fun-filled hours of discussing why Simbu and Dhanush should patch up on the 'Aishwarya' issue, why Ajith should act in more sensible movies. And on why journalism is really tough in miserable towns, how hardware engineers(he was one) go through hell and lots of other issues.

Got an email from my 'three-hour' friend today. Felt good, for no real reason at all.