Mysterious Night   

She rushed into the compartment in haste. She stood in between the doorway looking around excitedly for a moment and then took a seat near to me.  She seemed restless.  She looked at me so strangely and asked “Is this a fast local”You don’t find much people on the 12.00 pm fast to Virar anyway, that gave me the disadvantage of answering her question. I kept mum. She repeated her question. The man near to me grumbled something. The girl looked around restlessly.

A man at her far left was looking at her curiously. He turned away when their eyes met. She went and sat in front of him.

“Is this a fast train?” she enquired.

“Yes” he said and then looked away. When he looked back she was still staring at him. She smiled and the man looked away guiltily.

“Will the train stop at Goregaon?”

“No” he said.“

I have to get down at Goregaon, what to do?”

“It is better you get down at Andheri and catch a slow train” the man said with concern.

The girl looked down for a while and murmured.

“No, I don’t want to get down, let’s see!”

She adjusted her dupatta properly more than once. It showed the sign of restlessness.

The man kept mum.

She moved forward and sat down in front of a teenager who seems to be a student. He probably was listening to a song in his mobile and focused his vision upwards.

“What is the time now?” She asked.

The teenager blinked once perplexed and looked at her.

She repeated the question. He nodded in response, almost half-heartedly and said “It is 12:15 AM”.

She walked back knowing that all the four passengers are looking at her. Even the man who had been in deep sleep was awake by now and started staring at her.

She got to the other end and tried talking to the man sitting there.

A few moments later she got up and looked. She looked desperate, hurt – almost like a pigeon who’s trying to figure out why the world is so different.

“Does this train stop at Borivali?” she asked aloud. Nobody responded and stared at her.

The girl walked back to the teenager one again, still aware of the other man staring at her (more boldly by now).

She tapped the teenager on his knee. “Hi, listen to me….”

The boy looked at her. He was trying to hide his irritation. He took out his earphones. 

“Does this train stop at Borivali?” she blurted out.

“We passed Borivali long back and now reaching Bhyander,” he said, adjusting his headphones.

“I am Sania”

“Ok.”

“Where you are getting down”

“I am going upto the last stop anyway.” The boy raised his eyebrows.

“Do you catch this train everyday?” she asked

“Not regularly”

“Are you a student?”

“Yes. Half student and half worker” He smiled at her lightly.

“Oh. What is your subject?”

“Sociology,” he explained.

“Where were you all these time?”

“We went to a brothel today in part of Aids awareness programme.”

“You deal with sex workers?”The boy didn’t reply to that.

The boy got irritated but controlled himself and said.“There is no need for you to know that”The boy put his headphones back on his ears.

The silence loomed around them for a little while.She looked outside and murmured “What is the need for rain now?”

He peeped out of the window. Cold breeze caressed his face and his face got wet with rain drops. It was completely dark outside.He looked at her with a smile in his face.The rain drops entered in the compartment and he pulled the shutter down.

The train made a halt at Vasai and he got up

“Where are you going man?” she asked

“I am getting down.”She got up and caught his hand. He got scared.

“You can’t do this.” He tried to loosen her grip but failed to do so. 

He moved towards the door but she blocked his way.He pulled her with force. She fell down and became unconscious.

He thought about what he would have to go through if the police notice this. He planned to get down at the next stop to make sure no one sees him.  

 “Will this train stop at Goregaon? He heard that once again faintly, he couldn’t believe his ears. He bowed down and touched her face; it was so cold.

When Virar came and the train stopped, it was still raining outside. He paused for a moment. He knelt down beside her and checked her pulse.Then he looked at me with panic. 

I was watching the entire episode silently all these while like a mumbaikar without any feeling but felt pity on that boy.

I got up and went to him.  “Let’s see whether we can admit her in some hospital!” The boy was really concerned. The train halted with a jerk. 

I asked him to wait there and went to the Station Master’s room.  I briefed him the entire episode.  He arranged for a structure and we took her to the nearest hospital. 

There was no doctor available because it was half past 1 and they must be having a sound sleep.  With great difficulty we got a doctor on the line and she arrived fast.  She took her to the emergency room.  The emergency room looked deserted.   

“She is alive, don’t worry” then she looked at me and asked “What happened, tell me the entire episode”. 

I narrated the entire episode.  She hesitated for some time and asked for the girl’s purse.  The boy gave her the purse.  She opened it and searched for something.  She took out some papers and got astonished. 

She stared at us and murmured.   “This is a case of Aids. This Elisa test says it all. I don’t know what to do?” 

My cell rang.  My wife was on the line.  She was worried about me.  This is the first time I am getting so late to reach home.  I told her I am on the way. 

The boy said “Sir, you can go home, I will be here till she gets admitted”. 

With half mind I proceeded home. I thought about her fate and thought about the fate of the boy. His family would be searching for him and if they come to know that he is with an Aids victim, what will happen.  I returned back to hospital.

Before I reach the hospital, I saw the boy coming towards me.   I asked him ‘What happened?”.   He said with desperation “She disappeared!”  “How come?” I was curious. 

The doctor gave me prescription to buy some medicines and I left for that.  When I came back she was missing. I went to the doctor to check whether she has been transferred to any special ward, the doctor was unaware of her disappearance.   

I got a shock, while we are getting disbursed to different directions to reach home. Even we forgot to say bye to each other.   

Things have a habit of happening on their own in certain circumstances. The entire episode still haunts me like a mystery. 

I still search for her whenever I am late from work like that mysterious night.   I know that I will meet her once again, if she is alive.  If there is such an opportunity I wanted to ask her why she disappeared that day.  I felt sad about millions of girls like her. 

Though the world is so wide, sometimes it is so small for someone like me.