No need for quarantine

Do not hold it against me if I talk about a visit to London. It was not recent, and hence there is no need for quarantine. I believe, the Tower is jinxed as many great people have fallen there since the days of William the conqueror, but I did not expect my wife to slip on the polished stone pathway. There is a cruel streak in people as they are not content in looking at the Kohinoor diamond alone, but like to peep into the tower where Sir Walter Raleigh was jailed who had to share the cell with his wife.

Back to the slippery pathway, we managed to put my wife back on her feet and continued our tour into Madame Tussauds. She was limping all the way but not showing signs of a breakdown. We took a train from Marylebone to North London. With difficulty, we got her down to platform two and made her sit on a bench. To our great disappointment, we found we had to climb up a staircase of some 40 odd steps and climb down to get a taxi.

There was no way she could do that in her condition. We were panicking and it was getting dark and the station was empty. Then it was this engine driver who was walking towards staff room who was curious. On hearing our plight, he suggested we go back to our compartment and he would take the train round three miles and bring it back to platform one so that we may walk out of the station. He said, "I have to get permission from the Stationmaster, though. Oh here he comes!" He talked to the young gentleman who cleared the procedure, though very much out of the way, for our benefit.

We climbed back into the compartment and were taken to the yard and brought back to platform one and as lone passengers, we deboarded and walked away. When a lot of waiting passengers tried to get into the train, the stationmaster told them that this was not a scheduled train and that they would have to return to platform two as usual.

We wanted to show our gratitude to the staff of the British Rail. So, the next morning rushed to meet them with a cake and a letter of appreciation. The station master beamed at us and said, "we will take the cake, not the letter. What happened last evening was not regular, and should not be on record in anyway. Well, are you fine now madam?"