"Travelling is a sort of education among the younger people," said Bacon. Perhaps he had a disappointing journey in mind, for it gives more experience and enables one to develop more courage. Hazlitt, in one of his essays, says that a journey becomes enjoyable if one hopes to get a good meal and a good rest after a tiring journey, and adds that traveling hopefully gives the maximum happiness. Perhaps he had no experience of a disappointing journey, which is often more instructive.

It was a day of disappointments. Being an optimist, I did not attach much importance to bad omens. First of all, the auto-rickshaw I hired to the railway station rattled noisily and emitted more smoke than an ordinary vehicle. But with limited time at my disposal, I decided to travel by it.

After a short distance, it began panting like an extremely tired person and came to a sudden stop. This was the first disappointment. Somehow, I managed to reach the station by jumping into another auto, only to find a long queue at the ticket counter. With only a few minutes left before the train's departure, there was no hope of reaching the ticket window. This was the second disappointment. I decided to travel without a ticket and pay the fare later.

Boarding the train itself was an ordeal. Despite my healthy body, I was sandwiched between other passengers, and my luggage was mercilessly trampled upon. Still, I managed to wriggle into a corner. There, I found some people smoking cigarettes. I could neither stand the smell nor move an inch. I covered my nose with my handkerchief, but the bad smell was choking me.

As expected, the ticket checker came. I willingly told him about my inability to buy a ticket. He looked at me with strange eyes, and all the passengers stared at me. The ticket checker was not going to allow me to travel, but I protested and told him that if a passenger was prepared to pay the fine, he should be allowed to travel. After much discussion, I convinced him and heaved a sigh of relief.

As I reached my destination, I was thanking God. I thought I would meet my cousin Aria and her husband Leo with a broad smile, and their hospitality would make me forget the ordeals of the journey. I was dreaming of this while the rickshaw-puller was pulling the vehicle in a half-asleep manner. To my great disappointment, I found that Aria and Leo had gone to New York for a month, and the house was locked. This was the greatest disappointment. I did not have much money for the return trip and did not want to recall this disappointing journey further because it makes me extremely sad. That was truly a bad journey.