Lost in the snowy evening

by Dheebika Ganesan (India)

A leap into the unknown India

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I peeped through the window upon hearing the landing announcement. Hardly I found a road, rather it was a land covered with snow. Fear, rush of blood, anxiety, the tension of what is going to be next, alongside, a sense of excitement and accomplishment of having come this long without any companion. Walking near the exit door, the cool breeze strokes me off reminding that I was wearing only a woollen sweater as my leather jacket lies inside my check-in baggage. With the deadliest temperature dropping below zero degrees in the afternoon, I raced heading towards the Helsinki airport to join the immigration counter. After completing the immigration an attitude with an excessive amount of confidence have built inside me. However, I have to remind myself that Helsinki was not my destined end and I have a long way to go about three hours of train journey in the west of Finland. So, I took one more step closer towards collecting my heavy weighed baggage and more importantly to take my jacket inside that baggage. At last, my baggage came sliding in and all my happiness of unlocking my baggage did not last for any few seconds after witnessing it being tightly locked. I tried my best to unlock my baggage and I failed. I thought of seeking help, but I was hesitant of being a clueless girl who has tucked in the most important property of a winter trip into the check-in baggage. However, it is better to soon accept the defeats of your own and reluctantly I took my baggage alongside and walked towards the metro station lying at the underground of the airport. It is already half past three in the evening and I can see it is getting dark. As I approached the station, I can experience the real cold for the moment. I neared the ticket vending machine wearing the gloves and it is hard to hold my card wearing those gloves. So, I have to remove them for taking my ticket. So, I have taken my first ticket successfully and sprang into the train that was approaching near. So, the first train journey was not a long one, just five to six stops away from the airport where I need from where I have to take up another train which is a real one for reaching my exact destination. It is unbelievable, too see a darkness worth night at the time of five in the evening. My tutor has already texted me on my pick up arrangement set at Lappeenranta station when I began my second level of the journey. However, when I put up my head, I saw the display boards inside the train were not working and it was just the announcement that comes up through voice. It never thought English as a language can be so hard when it gets communicated in another country wherein that two and half hours of the journey inside the train I paid so much attention to crack the words uttered by the voice. After hours of attention and attentiveness, I heard the word of Lappeenranta being the next stop which made me rise with a victorious smile. I stepped from the metro and it was darker than I thought and snowfalls. I am freezing with my sweater and need to look for my driver. At a long distance, I saw a man carrying a board in his hand whispering my name towards someone. I waved my hands towards him and I ran towards him. He saw me and scanned from top to bottom and in the meanwhile, I introduced myself before he completes his scan. He looked into my eyes and asked me ‘Is this the only jacket you have for winter’. This single question triggered so much laughter deep inside me as all my pressure of this long journey has turned into a single moment of pleasure. The question was the warmest welcome that I ever received. What could be more welcoming than a question that made me realise the leaps and boundaries that I have crossed to revamp myself?