I always liked train journeys more than flights, flights are so busy and you are at the destination without the journey ever touching you, like a port to the final destination. While trains are slow, they touch every corner before you get off, the wait is long...wherein each moment the craving of reaching stacks up greatly, the small talks on the way with the random passengers who inspire you & show you a glimpse of the local life around....it's a journey. Of all of them, this maybe why they have become a bigger part of my life!
I'm on my way home from work, a long night & a day it will be from Dehra to Calcutta. Lucky seat, the guy sitting opposite to me is really grabbing my attention, he has run to& fro to the door exactly 10 times in the last 5 minutes. There's another man clad in all black, charming no less and keeps his calm just too much, he keeps looking all around & doesn't react when our eyes meet, that's a little offensive! A beautiful lady is on the window side and managing a cute little baby too well. Her sister is on the next compartment, she had mentioned before leaving her baby here. The train looks awfully crowded for the off-season, travelling has become luxury now-a-days, no more necessity.
"Excuse me Sir, can I see your ticket and Id ?", the TT has started his checks this way down. It is now that I noticed a new person had replaced the hyper man, this man seemed aged, unshaven and coughed like whopping cough. Maybe he was travelling for treatment after all. The TT finished his round and the Hyper man or his luggage nothing appeared. I was starting to think his seat was mistaken, unless I reached the restrooms before retiring to bed. I saw the man apologizing to a woman for taking too long in the restroom and standing near the open compartment door. The light shone on his face, he seemed to me a fairly young lad of 20, with stress marked on every unformed wrinkle. I slid behind the divider and watched quietly. He retraced his path into the restroom, latched himself out unless the next bang was heard and everything was repeated as moments before.
This intrigues me and something inside me rendered me fearless. I took the side beside him in front of the open compartment door, he looked at me and smiled like a stranger would, making it obvious I was the only one who had noticed him. In my mind ran a string of thought, each crashing into another and building up a chain reaction. It occurred to me last if he would bring out a gun and shoot if I told him I had seen him hide there when he pulled me close and I heard a loud clank. We saw a bullet on the floor. He clutched my arm really hard and latched the restroom behind, I was too shocked to react, no drama does not hit you when you've been threatened of your life. "Some one missed a shot, why are you here?", I looked back even more stunned, did I know him? "Look I mean, are you a detective or something, I've seen you noticing everyone notorious".
"Are you a gangsta?", I blurted.
"No, otherwise. I can't say, you should go, how would you go, they think you are with me and you are in danger"
"I can see that! I'm no one, just mango man, i'll go, it's stuffy in here and don't know if you are to be trusted", staring straight into his sparkling eyes.
"You don't have much choice but I can tell if you stay. You may not believe me though", he replied plainly.
As mentioned I didn't have much of an option, I resented this place but his eyes were genuine, he didn't seem to lie-I had to trust my gut. So I went with it.
"Look I won't harm anyone, I want to save. That guy right there, the one in Black opposite your seat is a suicide bomber. He has his wife and children with him but they don't know, he is Haider. I have not been able to identify all his troop, more will be there apart from bombers who will make sure everything is on track, like the one who shot you. Some one on their troop was a friend of mine, he can't shoot me but he thought I had a troop and maybe tried to kill you so. I don't know, i'm only guessing!", he looked at me with dread. I was happy moments back, ignorant of the future, now that I knew it, I felt worse. I didn't really know how to act, I wasn't skilled but I doubt that could help now. There was a gang of bombers on the train and we would blow up in some time.
"Are you there?",he called out a little loud and I shrieked.
"How long?", I asked him.
"I don't know, I need their plan, right now i'm just guessing, we need to stop this!"
"You have a gang too?"
"No, I meant you and me, now that you know?", he replied looking at me questioningly.
"Ofcourse, who are you?"
"A Suspended IPS, my initials are 'J.A', since more information can be harmful, i'd prefer you know just that much", he looked a little shy now after a considerable time. Drama didn't hit me yet.
"What about your friend?"
"He's on the other side, he left our service for the right reasons but joined the wrong side, he's my best friend and he'll never hurt me, he has a dragon tattoo,be careful"
I wasn't sure if his friend was that loyal, his trust was unbreakable ofcourse, I closed the door behind me and reached my train birth. Sleep was the last thing I could think of, I looked down at the little baby twitch and soon after cried out. The lady patted her but she refused to calm down. I saw the man look through the corner of his eyes but he didn't come to help. I thought it seemed he regretted his decision. I helped her out, we got chatting, we whispered and I while the baby cried she told me small things about her village, how their lives had changed when her husband was outcast for something he had not done. They seemed like a happy family. I saw the man caste a glance at me, I did earn some more trouble. I got a few more details and rushed back to the end. I knocked, called out 'J.A', mentioned some details and he was out. I gave him some idea and he said all that was small talk, of no importance. I hated this ofcourse but I went back silently.
This time, on my birth I heard whispers. I stuck my ear close to the divider, I could hear some words 'It's not time, wait, 9 AM' in local language. To reconfirm I threw my bag at the man opposite. Immediately someone from the adjacent seat ran out to find out if he was okay. The man didn't reveal I had thrown the bag which surprised me.
This time my information was well appreciated. The bad part was a massive crowd on the train was their gang, distributed miserably well. I had also guessed, the police could not help on a running train, the next station was far far away, the work would be done by then. I didn't call home, I called my best friend and spoke to her about college and laughed like never before. On hanging up I cried profusely, J clasped me when the clock struck 8:56, "We'll can make it", he said with a smile. I knew noone would. I clasped him back, trying to hold on to the last human nearby.
When I gained consciousness, the train had stalled, beside was a beautiful water body, people were all over, a small blast did happen but the major plan had failed. I saw J and called to him, I was not hurt a bit, J was staggering towards me with the baby girl. The unshaven man in Black felt for his pocket and placed the gun in line to shoot me. Before I realized, J had jumped, I caught the baby and the lady but J had fallen, he was shot. The man jumped into the water and burst. J said, "That was my best friend!" and he smiled.
A lump formed in the throat, I didn't know much of this person but little was enough to salute his spirit, I didn't have much of a choice but I had fallen in love with a guy a respected just too much. Walking away was hard but it was all I could do, hoping the future had more such men & women of brevity in store.
This is why I love trains, maybe I wait for J to be back some day, or to save the world someday!
