The two Thieves

 It had been only a week since I arrived in Bhaindar. This is one of the suburban areas of the city, Mumbai. As if my fate, to play something different now, was to be sealed for some particular period of time in that dense forest of concrete. For a boy growing up in the thorough lap of greeneries, this atmosphere was such that there was nothing common in that city to identify his childhood with. A feeling of depression was overpowering my soul, leaving me deeply nostalgic over my rural life leaving just a few days back. I was convinced that life would be so colorful as soon as I would arrive in Mumbai and that too without the nearness of my parents. How idiotic that was! Yes, there were colors and black & white were those. Neither did there be any way to guess when a new day starts with a New Sun with its sunshine nor was there any greetings for a new Moon with its moonlight accompanying the stars in the evening. When I would talk to my MaaBaba over the phone I never let my voice slip and did not want to yield to crying and tears. You know what, there was a trick I just always wanted to play when it comes to the matter of hiding my emotions while talking over the phone to my faraway parents and dear ones as well. While talking to my parents I always tried to talk louder than the required tone so that, my voice, if gets shuttered by chance, my emotions are not likely to get exposed to them and I was habituated to it well by time. Yes, I couldn't help disclosing my weaknesses and it happened once when I was talking to my grandfather who was scolding me over the phone and I was just torn down to the core of my heart. At times, it just came to my mind that I should leave all these boring stuff and go home right now! At the weekend, usually on Sundays, I used to dial a number of a STD Booth in our locality where my parents would wait eagerly at a shop at the given time to get my voice. I, while hearing their voice, felt the same smell of wet mud I used to walk on while returning back home from school in my village. I kept trying to imagine as if at the end of our play when the setting sun was about to leave, I would be returning back along the narrow path of my village towards my house. I saw other boys who were older than me but facing the same situation I had been doing there. I found a lad in a shop next to ours. He, as being more experienced, knew all the roads and their directions in the area and gave me good guidance whenever it was required. We soon became friends with each other. It was on a Sunday that we visited a nearby khadi, a narrow channel happened to get distracted from the sea and make its way towards the outskirts of the suburb. This was only after visiting that place that I just felt a bit relaxed after one week of my arrival there. This place later on became one of my cherished sites in Mumbai. Each Sunday morning I used to go to play cricket and for the rest of my business days I liked to go running to keep myself physically fit. By the way, we both spent a while sitting there. A soothing breeze was continuing and we saw small foamy waves breaking upon the shore, children playing with balloons, some of them making castles, people from various communities having their good times. The charming sea sight with the sun dipping into the sea I will never forget. Every ripple of the sea, as if, was making itself known with the last ray of the setting sun. The khadi was partially surrounded by some visible hills and some islands. Across the khadi there was a bridge stretching the Railway tracks towards the last station, Nalasupara. We just did not want to leave the place we sat on but were compelled to start walking for the workshops. It was too late and both of us got afraid of scolding in the workshops of our respective Maliks. We took a shortcut and this was a lonely ,straight, narrow lane coming to its end where it gets the access to the main road towards Our workshops .It seemed that now this lonely path got overlooked by all the passerbys who used to take this for granted when to save time and distance necessarily. We were soul goers at that moment and I noticed my mate looking backwards frequently and making me aware of walking as fast as possible. I was totally ignorant of what was going on as the path was too dark to see ahead. Suddenly I felt my hand grab and a whispering coming in my ears..." samne keu aachhe sabdhan!". I asked, " Who?" We stopped and he replied, " Mone hoy dujon police". It was only after hearing these words I felt my heart beating because if we were asked about our doings and present living we would be exposed as child labours. We were not allowed to roam freely as if it was a sort of 'Chor police khela'. I saw two men were busy urinating beside the path ahead and we had to go forward past them behind. We could not turn backwards because we had already been visible to them. We couldn't but go forward as if we were trapped by them. We were just about to leave them behind and a hiss came from there. " Yea chore rouk rouk," One of them asked us. We stopped and stood stand still. Meanwhile one of them came close to us and started checking us one by one in a rubbish way. Having found nothing in both of my pockets the constable got angry and then holding both of my arms shouted at me and asked me with a shudder " kaha gaya tha re motherc**d?" I felt as if my throat got locked and I couldn't say anything but I tried to answer them with a sigh, "khadi pe ghum ne gayatha Sahab." My tears was about to roll down my cheeks when he gave me a rough push at my chest. I just in a way managed to stay on my feet. "Chal nikal yeaha se, nikal.. bahenc**d!" As of now I did not notice where my friend was and what actually was also going on with him. He also had to face the same rubbish inhumane interrogation as I went through. But at last we were left free to go when they found it meaningless to find money in our pockets as we didn't have money either. After we both walked a while I looked at my friend smiling. He looked at me and said, " you acted well, otherwise they were not supposed to leave us soon." I said, "Acted?" " Yes, you cried as I did " he replied. I kept thinking whether my friend was really acting... "

 

Happy journey!

 

This was the pink city Joypur where I happened to visit once. 14th days had already passed and I was being accompanied by the two fellows to the Jaypur Railway station from where I, would set in for Dadar, Mumbai by train. I came here as a diamond setter to work for a workshop from Mumbai. During those 14 days It had been proved that I was not that matured enough to be paid by the Malik rather a foolish one who ,most of the time, would like to keep quiet and didn't have the guts to mug the rights when it was necessary. Some of my colleagues  suggested to me , " Rana, Tumi chole jao Mumbai, Ai Malik tomay takai debena. Tumi jano amader koto taka akhhono dayni..." So I decided to leave as this world has nothing to do with my honesty but my bogus appearance and smartness.  

I was standing with my only small bag and listening to the announcements of the train which was to depart within a few minutes ahead. Though I was on the platform, I had to wait for those companions going to collect the ticket for my journey.At a distance, suddenly I happened to see them running fast towards me. At length, I was legally permitted to pick up the train waiting on the platform nearby, as I had already got the ticket in my hand. Suddenly there was a whistle and They started pushing me inside a compartment through a narrow door and the Malik , taking out two notes of hundread and fifty rupees respectively , placed them into my chest pocket ." Ai Rana, eta rakh, dorkar lagbe." Saying this, both of them departed quickly. I was, then, in such an unimaginable state of mind that I couldn't explain. I never expected these circumstances might have happened to myself ever. It's ok that I was not paid, but what about the situation? I was standing with my bags and would possibly complete this journey this way! Literally, I had to cry in myself and remember my parents as such a tough situation I had never been to ever.  

 It was 3:16 P.M. and I just managed to squish myself into the compartment with my bag. It was crowded enough and I was busy observing around and searching for a place if left open to me to get myself aside. The place inside the compartment was like something I was not familiar with. I realised that I had never boarded such a compartment before. I was standing in front of a window, allowing me to get a view of the outsiders. But my attention was rather to what was happening inside the compartment. At every moment we, the passengers who were struggling to keep ourselves straight on our feet, were being thrashed continuously by each other's pushing. There were six berths loaded, half of each full of luggage and the rest of the space occupied by two passengers in the berths each. But suddenly My eyes fell on the man with his kolossal appearance who was sitting on one of the two upper berths with his veiled wife who kept fanning him continuously whereas the man himself sat with his majestic outlook doing nothing but was in course of preparing tobaco. His stomach was so big one that might be compare to a " MATIR JALA" The train started departing the platform with a long whistle and it was only when the narrow door I had passed through few minutes back came to my attention. Some people were still running to board the compartment through the door and when speed was gaining gradually one of them was still running alongside by gripping the handle outside the door and the people standing there was giving him a loud cheer shouting..." Aaja andar..! Aaja.aaja..Andar aaja...! "... to provide him with the necessary courage he needed at the moment and honestly, at last he managed to get himself inside the compartment with his best effort. And with this the door got locked, making all of us prisoners for the time it would arrive at the next station. But it was just the beginning and I was really ignorant of what was going to happen to myself in the hours to come. At the station when I had caught the train and boarded, it was fairly crowded but when it arrived at the next station I got really afraid of the scenario inside. 

 The train having arrived the next platform I saw outside through the window some people running towards the locked door and once unlocked there was hardly anyone to leave the compartment rather there was a tremendous force coming inside when a folk of passengers was trying to board the compartment while some were pushing and hitting one another lest they got left on the platform and being unable to get themselves inside. Yes, they had to end up missing the opportunity as the halt was to come to its end as it was hardly one minute that they were allowed to get in. Now it was much more crowded inside and I found myself in new surroundings.There were some new crews making violence and One of them, being healthiest among others was becoming too violent that he was roughly hitting and pushing others continuously to get a place to his choice. Now, the man who was sitting on the upper berth and kept noticing the happenings from the above just gave a so loud roar to that guy that it made the whole compartment completely silent. " Tu Kya chatahe may niche utru...!" The man from the berth just asked the man standing on the floor. But he didn't dear to make noise anymore.

I couldn't recognize the passengers I had seen when I boarded earlier. Actually, they were partially replaced by some new passengers and some of them, I found, were resting upon the racks like lizards glued to those surfaces with their luggage keeping aside. It was such an unimaginable scene that it was comparable to that of lollipops completely covered with ants over there. The force with its new crews continued to come inside. Unexpectedly, there was a Chacha standing my right side and just asked me.." Beta Kaha ka safer hay?" I answered.." Dadar Jana hay". Then he asked, " ish kamremey pahelibar ho Kya? Tum baith jao beta, kab tak nak sidha rakh ke khara rahoge? Avi baith jao, nahito baad may ish jaga v nehi bachhega khara rahene ka. Ane wale station may or vi log ayenge tab? Tumhara safar lamba hay r avi pura raat Jana hay tumhey. May aagle station may utar jaunga, tum ish jaga lelena." I couldn't believe that such a decent man might be there in that situation there. In my ignorance when I was hesitant enough to sit on where I had to stand, the man nearly at the age of over 55, wearing their traditional hat and kurta pajama, had been keeping eyes on me and was compelled to give me his kind suggestions. 

Suddenly there happened to be a sudden pushing wave of the crowd that had,at last, completely fallen upon my body leaving me almost landed on some other passengers sitting around. I tried to lift myself upwards but in vain and almost crying and shouting as there were four or five people more ladened on my body leaving me completely helpless.At length, some how I was able to make myself sit on the floor but where is my bag which was hanging with my neck and yes , it was still there! My forehead got hit with someone's and I felt its left side hurt. I was no more in a situation to stand up once again and was perspiring and left without food and water too... Actually, I had no idea of this journey at all. 

When I was said to be fired I had thought that they would get me a reservation ticket at least, as I was not being paid. But I was telling myself..." Yes, you have been cheated..." I was sitting with my bag hugging my knees and was packed up with the pressure from the fellow passengers.Some of them were sitting but almost all of them yielded to a certain drowsiness after four or five hours of struggling. I too, started to fall into sleep but I was unable to do so.Time to time someone's throwing hands or legs began to hit my head or shoulders to make me remember that I was in the Current Dabba. I found myself to be the same state with the animals that are tortured and carried inhumanly into a wagon in the same manner in which we were being carried by The Indian Railways. It had been ten hours already that I was not able to use the bathroom that was only one for all the packed passengers and if I be stand for a while I was quite sure that I was going to loose the place I had been sitting on. Though I was without water and food it was not so necessary as I would have been unable eat in such an unhygienic circumstance. An unknown smell was all over the compartment and I was not sure if there might be a vomiting there or something else pouring every where and making me feel dizziness. I really felt it was necessary to drink some water now but I couldn't speak a word. It was only when someone abusing and pushing me by his leg I awoke up and immediately made myself shaped with that knee-hug pose. Unfortunately I felt drowsy and my back happened to be over the legs of other crews. The darkness of the sky was getting fade with time and the dawn was to arrive. Now there was another problem I started feeling the necessity of using the bathrooms but couldn't help sitting without making any movement. 

I noticed the compartment was a bit offloaded and leaving some space open to all of us. Suddenly , I saw a guy ,who was a lame, trying to walk with one of his legs, as there was some spaces open but was sitting down frequently. I noticed his one of his legs being septic and swelled and that was the cause of that smell I felt since last night. There was an unoccupied sit also and I decided to change my place there. But when I went there to sit next to the passenger who was sitting and sleeping beside, he didn't allow me to be there and I also felt unhappy and got back to my previous position. I just, by hook and crook wanted to reach at the station, Dadar. I was eagerly waiting to go to bathroom then drink water and eat some food after getting down the compartment as soon as possible. At last, the train was to arrive at my sought after station, Dadar. I realized, "it doesn't matter how much worst the time goes on , it must come to its end no matter how long it takes to reach its climax." It was 7 O'clock and I, got down from the compartment to get myself a sigh of relief. I saw some T.Ds checking tickets and I touched my chest pocket and there were those notes with the ticket and written " Wishing You A Happy Journey" over there...

The Sanitized 25th Dec

 

Hello Santa...! We haven't seen you ever but felt a sanitised feeling that Santa Claus had with his sanitised appearance... Oh Santa...! Please make us sanitised. Please give us a sanitized 25th Dec this year. Please lead this planet in a sanitised direction. Please bless us with sanitized love... a sanitized personality and a sanitised self as well. Pleases come on this aspiring day with your lovely smile to get us sanitised with your love... Please give no more gifts, but your company only...! Masks are also a must! So please wear it, as we all have almost been affected by Covid-19. We aren't afraid of it anymore, but yes, don't want you to get affected too. We love you so much Santa! You had better remain absent from this occasion this year dear... Please wait until we all get sanitized or vaccinated, my dear 🎅...! 

As we all know the Santas across the world are none but our dear loved💞ones! It doesn't matter who are behind the happiness they offer beautifully with their loving selves... 💞💐🙏😌 We never want our Santas to be affected any more! 2020 has already nabbed our Santas regardless of numbers! We don't want to lose you dears! Please be safe for us... take precautions required. We know we will be waiting for you this time too... But please believe that this Waiting also has its beauty & taste in itself... 💞 Love you sooo so much Santas! Merry Christmas...!💐💞🙏😌