As a child I used to get weird dreams. One such recurrent dream was that the five-year old me was stranded on an unknown railway station en route to our native place in the south. I would dream about the train chugging away from the station taking my blissfully ignorant parents away from me who were unaware of me being left back on the railway platform, while I would watch on, horrified and helpless. The next scene (yes, I dream in sequences, scenes by scene!) shows me some days later, begging on the station, filthy and in tattered clothes, as my parents spot me on the same station they left me behind on their way back after their vacations. Funny as this might sound, but this dream haunted me on every train journey for many years to come. I wonder what triggered it.
My mum tells me that once when we were on one such journey we had halted for a few hours at a station’s retiring room, while my mum was inside the retiring room, my dad had taken me for a stroll on the railway platform. While we were at it he happened to bump into an old colleague of his and started chatting with him. So engrossed was he in the conversation that he did not notice me, his toddler, playfully drifting far away from him in the crowd. Luckily, a kind ticket collector found me, carried me and went around asking the bystanders whose kid I was, till my dad spotted me and claimed me as his lost brat!
Yet another instance was during one of those journeys when my brother, who was then about seven years old, had got down on the station from the train where it halted, along with dad to buy some refreshments. It so happened that there was a cart with toys passing by the place where my brother and dad were standing. So fascinated was my brother by those toys that he did not notice that dad had climbed back into the train while he was busy admiring those toys! It was only when the train started moving did he realise that he was about to be stranded. He screamed out to my dad who was coolly standing propped by the door of the coach forgetting that he had left his panic-stricken young boy on the station! Fortunately, dad noticed him in time to pull the alarmed kid back on the train. Phew! Talk about absent-minded dads, mine would bag a trophy for it!
So well, that explains parts of the weird dream I used to get on my train journeys. Isn’t it surprising how the seemingly small events that we experience, especially in our childhood, find their way into our dreams and subconscious minds, sometimes staying with us for eons? I still giggle at the memory of me begging on the railway station in my dreams! This happens to be my favorite dream so far, at least this is one dream I have a vivid memory of. There are some interesting ones that I’ve forgotten the moment I’ve opened my eyes. I’m sure most of us have at least one favorite dream that we remember clearly. Not the kind of dream that you see with eyes open, but the one that translates everyday instances into dreams that you see with your eyes closed. I’d love to know if you have had any such dream/s that you love recollecting. Do share your experience in the comments below.
Ohh.. absent minded dad indeed! But imagine you also remember the experience as a toddler even after all these years
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Yes Lata, he’s quite an absent-minded person! My mum used to relate these instances to us and that’s how we remember.
Woah — your dad is forgetful! Didn’t he get an earful from your mom? It’s actually strange which incident gets registered in the corners of our brain and manifests itself as a dream. I often cannot remember my dreams at all.
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Oh, he keeps getting it from mum all the time! And that’s how we remember these amusing incidents, coz she would narrate them in detail time and again. It’s a pity when we forget dreams, right?
It is strange how certain incidents leave a mark in our minds to haunt us throughout our lives. I have a recurring dream too, from the early days of my childhood and know it has a ink with something tnat happened to me once. In fact, my dreams are always so vivid I could live through them all over again even after I’ve woken up.
Wow, lucky you, to dream and remember those dreams so vividly. I hope it gives you a lot of interesting things to write about.
Oh Vinodini, the dream that you see was something I actually experienced when i was about 3 yrs old. I, along with my mum and some aunts, were once on the platform at Bhandup (where we stayed before moving to Navi Mumbai in 1977). I was with an aunt, and when the train arrived everyone climbed into the train, except I. My mum narrates that when she casually threw a glimpse at the platform , she spotted me standing alone, looking with a shocked expression at everybody! Mum’s heartbeat almost stopped as she jumped out of the train, grabbed me and got in in time. Her heart was thudding as she asked my aunts how they had left me behind. Each said they thought I was with the other. Mum still cannot forget the episode and neither can I. When she told me about this incident when I was a college student, I would always imagine what would have happened had mum not spotted me on the platform and had someone kidnapped me or something. My younger brother of course comes up with the most horrid ideas of what would happened then, like I would have become a beggar, or some such thing. That brat! 🙂 But, that’s one thing that actually happened with me that happened in your dreams! The dream that haunts me often, is I am walking all the way from Kharghar to Vashi in the evening, trying to reach mum’s house, but my eyes are shut tight. I am sleep-walking, can’t open my eyes, my legs have turned to jelly and i can’t find the way home. And, when I think of calling up hubby to ask for directions, I find that my phone has conked off, or I am unable to trace any numbers in the directory! I hate that dream coz I fear it might actually happen some day! 🙂
Oh, Vinodini, the dream that haunts you, actually happened withe me when I was a little girl.
Once ( when we lived in Bhandup before moving to Navi Mumbai in 1977) I , along wit mum and some aunts was standing at the railway platform waiting for the train. I was with an aunt and all the women were busy talking. But, when the train arrived, they all got in, except me! And, when my mum casually threw a glance at the platform she spotted me – her 3 year old precious one – standing alone on the platform looking shocked and dumbstruck at her family which was now inside the train! She jumped out and grabbed me and got into the train just in time. Her heart was thudding as she asked everyone why they had left me alone! She narrated this incident to me long ago, and when I imagined what would have happened had she not spotted me, my younger brother came up with all sorts of horrid ideas. He said, I would have become a beggar or some such thing! That brat! 🙂
And, the dream that haunts me, is the one that sends shivers down my spine. I can’t remember when I saw the dream, but I remember clearly, I am walking all the way from Kharghar to Vashi, to visit mum. It’s late in the evening, there’s heavy traffic (which in reality is never there on that particular road). My eyes are shut tight, I am sleep-walking, sort of, and unable to find my way there. My legs have turned to jelly and I am dragging myself in the direction I think is the right one. I get all panicky as I am in such a bad shape and fish out my cell phone to ask hubby for directions, but find that the screen of my phone is all blank. I cannot locate the directory neither the keyboard to dial the number! When I think of that dream, I get panicky coz I fear it might come true someday!
Dreams, I tell you!
Omg, this sounds so similar to my dream, Shilpa! I can imagine your horror at being left like that. Your brother really seemed to be a brat to put those ideas in your head! So you actually dreamt of sleep walking from Kharghar to Vashi! Sounds spooky! I’ve lived around that area, so I can imagine! Terrifying yet amusing! Funny how we interpret things in our dreams.
Thanks for the lovely share. I’m forgetful, so I empathised :).
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Haha, so my dad did find someone who could empathize with him! Glad you enjoyed reading it.
Oh dear! Do these recurring dreams have some truth in them or something to do with what must have happened in our past? I had 2 – 3 dreams that would recur all through my childhood and my college life. And later as an adult I felt that somehow I had a fear of being without my dad and be responsible to take care of my family. And all the dreams would point to that. I don’t have a true incident which could relate to that fear. My father has always been around.for us. And then a few years into my marriage I stopped having those dreams. Hence I felt that I finally must have got a sense of security.
Dreams about death are said to bring new things in your life, probably new beginnings and end of some old stuff. Doesn’t mean the death in your dream is real. It’s just an analogy, so relax. I hope you do relate it with some new beginnings in life.
The happenings get registered in our subconsciousness, only to trouble us later. Though there is no benefit from it, but if it was indeed a pleasant experience, it can be a bliss sometimes.
I’ve had my share too, mostly of my close ones dying…but not anymore! Touchwood!
On a funny note- if you have that dream again, at least try bringing the money from collection into reality ?
Oh yes, I should have tried to get the collection from the dream into reality!? Wish making money was as easy as that.
Dreams of death signify new beginnings, so it wasn’t really bad for you. Anyway, pleasant dreams are always welcome rather than unpleasant ones, right?