"Do you know how much weight I carried last year? Oh it almost broke my back under the strain. But the big boss does like his possessions so much and insists on taking them everywhere, so I had to comply," she said to the new arrival.
The speaker was tall and proud – she came from a
humble background and was bright red. It was dark where they
discussed this, but she could see the new arrival clearly when the boss brought
him in. Newbie was dressed in a rich shade of blue, and beaming with the
confidence that only the innocence of youth can exude!
"And the indignity of
it, that foul man called me a gas cylinder!" Collective gasps went around.
"What, the boss?" exclaimed an old colleague, who was
wrinkled with age. They knew not where he came from or when, but had already been
with the boss’ household the longest.
"Oh God no, whatever else his flaws, he
never calls us names – this was some strange fellow in a far-off land."
"He never calls us names, because he never even remembers us.
I’ve seen it at the airport so many times, the way he screws up his eyes as if
it’s taking him all the effort in the world to see if it’s us or someone else.
For him, we’re green, red, pink, blue – interchangeable with anyone dressed in
this colour," claimed a holdall.
"Hah – I’ll bet you twice the load the boss makes me carry
if you make him correctly identify the colours green, red, pink and blue!" said
the vivacious one in pink.
A derisive laughter went around, but something
shuffled up above,"Shh, someone’s coming," said Red. The ceiling lifted itself
up from a corner and two large humans peered down at this motley collection of
travel bags, stuffed in the deep storage of a double-bed.
"I’m gonna take the red or pink one again, they're big enough
for all my luggage," declared Rohan.
"That bag won’t fit under the seat of the train," calculated
his mum. "You should take two smaller bags. Take these," she said pulling out
two medium sized ones – faded blue and brown. If it came down to taking smaller
bags, Rohan wanted the shiny new blue bag, but his mum would have none of it.
She wanted the newbie for her own trip. So they heaved the bags out and left
the room.
Red was furious, "Oh! I’ve been shunned. I’m now apparently
too fat to fit under a seat!" The word drama queen went around silently.
"Give it a rest Red," shot Pink. "They’re taking the train! I won’t have it. Those lecherous
cockroaches in the luggage hold stare at me and whistle!"
"Do you know where the boss and his friends are off too,
Pink?" asked Thomas Cook. He was the only one who had the name of humans among
the lot, primarily because he’d been branded with such big a sign that it was
the first thing that one noticed about him.
"No, I just overheard the train bit. But Strappy was there
when they hatched their plan, weren’t you Strappy?"
Strappy was the smallest of them all in size. A dirty-looking shoulder bag, he’d been with the boss for more than half a decade in which time
he had become his constant companion, first when he was younger – to college, and
then to office and then, as the years made strappy less presentable – to all
holidays as the bag of essentials. Even after all these years, he knew he was Rohan’s
favourite, and as a mark of loyalty, never engaged in back-talk like the
others. His tone was droning, but also mildly reverential sometimes.
"Yes, you’re right, Pink. Master (not boss if you notice) and his friends were
quite expectedly bored due to their long wait for a connecting flight and
indulged in some banter about where to go next. Some ambitious plans were
thrown around in jest, but master then brought forth the topic of Madhya Pradesh.
He insisted on it in subsequent months, It translated, as
you now see into what I know will be another successful holiday.’ (I wrote this a few months back. The
trip was fabulous. Read my other posts)
"Oh, how down-market!" smirked Red, nudging Pink. (That's Red's opinion, not mine)
"Yes, but you’re evidently now out of favour for even this ‘down-market’
trip, Ms. Red," retorted Strappy with uncharacteristic malice. Everyone, Pink and the newbie included burst into laughter and Red went even redder in anger. So loud was the laughter that the humans could hear it a bit, "What was that sound, don't tell me there are rats in the house!" exclaimed Rohan's mother. The bags, ever cautious of revealing their sentient selves, fell back into silence and the day went on as before.
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Where did this post come from? I like travelling, but I'm a terribly heavy packer. I pile on heaps of 'spare' or 'emergency' clothes and keep fresh clothes for every day, instead of just washing a few during the trip and repeating. I usually travel with friends and my bags are the largest and most numerous in our group. I do try to improve, but old habits die hard I guess!
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| Me, with 'Strappy' |
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