"The rest of this ride is mine to take. By myself..."

April 28, 2016 7:23 AM

Nagpur Junction: A Short Tragicomic [via mefi projects]
posted by Theta States (12 comments total)

That was great, and I hadn't seen it over on Projects. Thanks for sharing (and beijingbrown for making it!)
posted by curious nu at 8:19 AM on April 28, 2016

I've been working myself through this exploratory journey, gearing myself up. This is lovely, and thank you for sharing beijingbrown and Theta States. It speaks to me.
posted by infini at 8:44 AM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

*buys oranges at the station in Nagpur*
posted by infini at 8:44 AM on April 28, 2016

Wonderful! thanks!
posted by dhruva at 9:07 AM on April 28, 2016

I'm a sucker for tragicomics and this one strikes a great balance.
posted by Theta States at 9:49 AM on April 28, 2016

Then you might enjoy my all time favourite one.
posted by infini at 10:39 AM on April 28, 2016

Wow. I lost my dad two years ago and even though he was quite different than beijingbrown's, the bit about not understanding your parents until they die hit me hard. Thank you.
posted by Hactar at 2:42 PM on April 28, 2016

Just to highlight the comment that beijingbrown says "put it all together" (and referenced in the comic):

I am reminded of The Winter of Our Discontent:

“Men don't get knocked out, or I mean they can fight back against big things. What kills them is erosion; they get nudged into failure. They get slowly scared.[...]It's slow. It rots out your guts.”
posted by alex_skazat at 11:37 AM on March 20 [22 favorites +] [!]

So a bit of a trivia: in addition to oranges [infini: my first thought too! :) ] and searing heat, Nagpur junction is also where the north-south Udhampur - Kanyakumari line intersects with the east-west Mumbai - Howrah line in a double diamond crossing, effectively marking it as the dead center of Indian railways. Like the author, I too had passed through it countless times, usually on a Delhi - south run.

It is also where my father had a heart attack while we were taking a journey from Delhi similar to the one depicted in the comics, and stoutly refused to tell us what was happening. Been 26 years, dad has been fine since, but I've never had the courage to take a Rajdhani ever again. Cuts very close, this, along with some bereavement in the family last year, and having actually become a dad after that, and wondering about protecting family past and whatnot.

Also, beijingbrown, if you're reading this: A. Lot. of. Common. References. here too numerous to mention, but I'm curious about this one in particular: the code in the computer programming panel, is that a reference to gorilla.bas, the free game that came with MS DOS 5 / Qbasic? :)
posted by the cydonian at 11:58 PM on April 28, 2016

I tried to visit Nagpur a couple months ago, but got deported. Apparently those fancy new electronic tourist visas are only good in 16 of India's 31 international airports... And Nagpur just isn't quite big enough to have between given the e visa processing infrastructure. Got all the way there before the airline realized there was a problem, and then got sent all the way back to the US, 56 hours of travel in all.

So that's my memory of Nagpur, fwiw.
posted by kaibutsu at 12:07 AM on April 29, 2016

@the cydonian: Indeed it is. :) It was the first 'game' I ever played, on an old 386 PC.
posted by beijingbrown at 12:47 AM on April 29, 2016

Thank you so much for this. This strikes a chord with me that I cannot express in words.
posted by mysticreferee at 8:28 AM on April 29, 2016

.

Dads. It is such a complicated love.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:19 AM on May 11, 2016