High - Speed Trains, Samay Raina and Iron Grapes

I know the title sounds weird, because I am going to talk about a weird dream I had this morning. So, don't expect logic to follow. This dream was so weird that I couldn't help but write about it. 

A Weird Train Dream: Because Dreams Don’t Need to Make Sense

So, this is how it all started. Like many dreams, there was no beginning or warning, I just found myself inside a train with my sister-in-law and nephew.

We were returning from a trip. Don’t ask me which trip, we never really know in dreams, do we? But I had a strong sense that we were headed back to Hyderabad.

There were still 12 hours left in the journey. I remember that detail clearly because a lady who boarded the train at Jaipur Railway Station wouldn’t stop rambling about how she had to travel another 12 hours to reach the destination which was the same as ours.

The journey itself was mostly smooth, with occasional hiccups like loud noise, an argument with the Ticket Collector, and a minor food spill on the seat.

Just when we were about to reach our destination, the train unexpectedly stopped - one station before. Curious and slightly concerned, I got off to see what was happening and right then, the train suddenly started moving again.

I tried to catch up, running through the crowd, but it was chaotic. Too many people. Too much noise. Just like that, I was left behind as the train disappeared into the distance.

Now I was stuck at a random station. A few other passengers had also gotten off and were left behind just like me. We all stood there, wondering how we were supposed to reach our destination and what would happen to the luggage we had left on the train.

Thankfully, my sister-in-law was still on board, I was sure she’d take care of my bags once she got off.

And then something very strange happened.

An engine rolled in, in front of me, not a full train, just a bare engine. It looked odd, not meant for passengers at all. There was a man on it, looking like a mechanic. He was smeared with coal dust and busy fixing something. He told us, “A cargo train is coming. You all will have to board that to get to the next station.”

We didn’t have much of a choice, so we agreed.

Soon enough, the “cargo train” arrived, but to my surprise, it didn’t look like a cargo train at all. It looked like something out of a European travel vlog, sleek, high-speed, bright orange, and almost luxurious high speed train . 

Definitely not the kind of train you’d expect in that situation, or in India, honestly.

I got a window seat and was quite pleased about it. The journey to the next station was just 5–7 minutes, but I was still amazed. I couldn’t believe that such a train existed here. It felt surreal, almost like a glimpse into some alternate Indian railway future.

But of course, the weirdness didn’t end there.

The train, despite its luxury, was fully packed. People were standing, sitting awkwardly, and trying to find breathing room. I had somehow secured a window seat and was soaking in the sight outside, lush green fields racing past as the train zoomed ahead. It was the first time in my life I was on a high-speed train, and I wasn’t going to miss a second of that view.

That’s when a girl sitting nearby started giving me serious side-eye.

She leaned in and said, “Hey, I need the window seat. I’m feeling nauseatic and I might vomit.”

Now, under normal circumstances, maybe I would have considered it. But not this time. Not when I was living my best train life, staring out at the green blur of countryside.

So I looked at her and said politely, “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

She kept giving me dagger looks, but I stayed put, fully committed to my window seat experience. I mean, come on high-speed train, amazing view, weird dream… priorities!

And then because this dream just kept getting weirder, I suddenly heard a familiar voice behind me.

It was coming from over my shoulder, and as I turned to look, I realized it was Samay Raina.

Yes, that Samay Raina - The Stand Up Comedian 

He was just casually talking, like any regular passenger. And I remember thinking, What the hell is he doing in a normal train? It was completely random, but also felt so normal in the dream logic, like of course he’d be there, just chilling on a crowded train with the rest of us.

Samay Raina wasn’t just there, he was venting, Loudly.

He was ranting about how his father is a Chartered Accountant who still works with physical files and Excel sheets. “Why?” he asked, exasperated. “Why are all the other CAs automating their work and chilling at home while my dad still has to slog day and night? Why can’t this country just automate CA work already?”

He was visibly upset. Like really angry. You could tell this wasn’t just a casual complaint. It was personal frustration bubbling over.

While all I wanted to do was go up to him and ask for an autograph, I held back. Strangely, no one else seemed to care that Samay Raina was on this train. So, I pretended not to care either and turned my eyes back to the window.

That’s when things got even weirder.

The train began to slow down. We were approaching the next station, but it wasn’t Hyderabad.

It was my father’s village. The train just stopped there, right in the middle of a field.

Suddenly I remembered, oh, right, this is my village. I should get off.

So I did. I walked through narrow village alleys and reached my father’s house. But it was locked. I went over to my uncle’s house to ask for the key.

He said, “It’s beside your house.”

“Where beside my house?” I asked.

He just repeated, “It’s beside your house.”

I was getting frustrated now. This dream was already nonsensical.

Just then, another uncle walked into the house and noticed something in my hand. I looked down and there they were, the weirdest grapes I’ve ever seen.

Long grapes. As long as my index finger. And attached to a thin iron rod, like how a lollipop is fixed to a stick. Only, this was metal.

Apparently, in the dream logic, these grapes had been handed to me by the high speed train driver. The train was transporting them ( It was actually a cargo train). 

My uncle looked at them and said, “Oh, even in villages now, the authorities are teaching farmers to grow these grapes on iron sticks. But they’re not healthy at all. They’re full of chemicals.”

I replied, “But the cargo train was taking them to the cantonment board to serve them to army personnel!”

He looked alarmed. “That’s a serious issue.”

And then, still holding those bizarre, chemical-laced, iron - graped mutant fruits, I turned back to my other uncle and asked again, “Okay, seriously, where is the key?”

Again, he said, “It’s just beside your house.”

At that point, I was beyond frustrated. I looked down at the grapes again and thought, How are these even real? This doesn’t make any sense, who eats these grapes, where am I?

And just like that - I woke up.

That's the weirdness of it. A high speed train for Cargo, Samay Raina and weird grapes.