Chapter 2: The Train Journey
March 2008,
Indian Railways is the lifeline that connects the country and its people. Every journey has a life of its own. Here are our protagonists embarked on one such life changing journey in the 2nd class sleeper coach.
Arjun Suryakant Rawte is the tall, dark, handsome young man, and a freshly trained IPS officer from the academy. He is reading John Green's Looking for Alaska while he is waiting to find his, in this boring train journey.
"Bhaiya, kounsa station aya?" His teenage sister peeps from the top berth and her two long plaits drop down. "Ow, my hair!" She yelped as he pulled them.
"Neeche aake dekh lo, main padh raha hun, don't disturb." Arjun said. Don't judge him for being so annoyed. In his defence, Neha is a bit too much to handle, she is inquisitive and being raised in a generationally rich family, quite unaware of the ways of ordinary people's lives. He has been answering her since last three hours and is tired now.
This teenager lands with a thud from the top side berth and sits next to her brother at the window seat. "Aur kitni der lagegi Kolkata pahuchne me?"
"Do din." Arjun said without looking up from his book.
"Itta jyada time lagega?" She pouted.
"Chup rahogi to jaldi ayega."
"Bhaiya, wo kya hai wahan?" She pointed out of the window.
He pulled her hand inside, "Dollie, bola na, chup chap baitho, pareshan mat karo."
"Kaahe itta pareshan ho rahe bhaiya? Main to bas-"
"Chup. Maine pehle hi kaha tha, flight se chalte hai, do ghante me pahuch jayenge, lekin nahi, tumhe hi bada shouk tha, train se jana hai, ye karna hai, wo karna hai" He imitated her high-pitched voice.
"Ek to pehli baar akele train se jaane ko mil raha hai mujhe laga tha maza aayega, maa ki daant to nahi sunni padegi, papa k sath hi jana chahiye tha, aap to mummy k bhi baap ho chillane me, bachhe ki jaan hi le lo."
"Nautanki band karo aur mujhe padhne do."
"Thik hai." She looked out of the window. After a few minutes, "Bhaiya, ek pen aur paper do."
"Q? Tum to keh rahi thi ki board ki exams ho gayi hai ab do mahine kitab haath me nahi leni hai, ab kya hua?"
"Shh.. baat nahi karo, book do, mujhe kuch likhna hai."
Arjun shook his head and gave her his diary and pen.
After 15 minutes she gave him his dairy, "Dekho maine kya likha!"
Arjun read the poem, "Wow, this is good."
"It is?" Neha grinned.
"Yes, it's very good."
"I'm hungwy!"
"Kya khana hai?"
"Chips!"
Arjun gave her a packet of potato chips from his bag. She started eating. Arjun tried to take a few pieces but she hit his arm.
"Kya hai?" Arjun snatched the packet.
"Bhaiya, pehle to tum mere pe kabse gussa kar rahe ho aur ab mere chips bhi le liye, ye sab nahi chalega."
"Oye chirkoot, jyada bakbak mat kar." He smacked her head.
"Oww.. Apni girlfriend ka gussa mere pe nai nikalneka, samjhe?"
"Kounsi girlfriend?"
"Mujhe kya pata? Itti saari to tumhari hi hai."
"Abhi koi nahi hai."
"Q?"
"Academy me ye sab allowed nahi hota aur time bhi nahi milta."
"Par wo jo college me thi, Shanaya? Uska kya hua?"
"Shaadi ho gayi uski."
"Itti jaldi?"
"Ab ho gayi na, main kya karu? Uske parents nahi maan rahe the."
"Meri shaadi kab karenge?"
"Ladka dhund k rakh, 18 ki ho jayegi tab karwa denge."
"Aur mujhe ladke se shaadi nahi karni ho to?"
"Kya matlab?"
"Okay, confession time, please don't freak out, alright?"
"Okay." Arjun nodded unsurely.
"I'm Gay." She bit her lips while fidgeting with her curls.
Arjun stared at her and sighed, "Neha, you're too young to know this."
"I'm going to be sixteen in four months. If I'm not too young to have a boyfriend, why am I too young to be gay? Such hypocrisy!"
"Abhi tum bachhi ho, bacchi hi raho."
"You're such a hypocrite bhaiya, I really thought you'd understand and support me. My bad. I should've expected this." She climbed back the top berth and sat facing the wall.
After few minutes, Arjun climbed up and sat beside her. "Neha," he said in a loving voice, gently caressing her hair, "I'm sorry. I didn't know how to react, it was like -"
"Don't say anything that'll make it worse."
Arjun took a sharp breath, "Look, I am here for you, no matter what. I will always support you. Be yourself, that's what you can do the best, right?" He pecked her forehead.
"Of course! There's no one like me!" She smiled.
"Shouldn't be. God only makes a mistake once!" He pulled her cheeks. She smacked his arms.
The train halted at a station. Arjun looked towards the door at the boarding passengers. His eyes struck on a young woman who was struggling with her huge bag. She checked her ticket again and looked for her seat.
I've been through the desert and I've been across the sea
I've been walking through the mountains and wandered through the trees for her
Neha looked at her brother who was gaping at somethi-, no some one. She looked in the direction and sighted her.
"She's beautiful!" Neha pinched Arjun.
"Oww!"
"Ye to bahot khubsurat hai Bhaiya! Pataa lo inhe!"
"Main bhi wahi soch raha tha." Arjun said immediately.
"My turn, me goes first!"
"Kya? Bilkul nahi, bhabhi hai tumhari!"
"Pakka?"
"I'll try!" Arjun winked.
"Okay, main abhi neeche jaa rahi, tum aaram se aana, act cool!"
"I don't need tips from you."
The young woman dressed in red and black cotton kurta-pajama came near their compartment and took her seat on the outer corner. Neha came back to her seat at the window and started reading Mein Kamph.
Arjun was looking at the woman from the top berth. She tied her loosely braided hair into a bun and wiped sweat off her face. Arjun felt his heart skip a bit. 'How can someone look so beautiful even when tired?'
I have been trying to find her
want to give what I got
She lit a fire,
but now she's in my every thought
"Hey sunshine!" Neha kept the book aside and talked to the young woman opposite her.
"Me?"
"Hi! I'm Neha! And you?"
She smiled, "Roshni!"
"Wow! You're like sunshine, literally!" Neha chuckled.
Arjun rolled his eyes at her dumb pun.
Roshni forced a smile, "thanks".
"So, where are you going?"
"Chennai"
"But the train's going to Calcutta- oh, nevermind!" Neha picked a book on poems and began reading.
A few minutes later, Arjun came down. He looked at the mess on his berth, "Ye sab kya raita faila ke rakha hai? Sameto ise."
"Baithna ho to baitho nahi to khade raho." Neha said without looking at him.
Arjun snatched the book from her hands, "Uthao ye sab aur bag me daalo."
"Sunshine," Neha turned to Roshni, "I have no clue who this man is, why is he talking to me like this?"
"She's my sister." Arjun defended himself.
"Seems like you take the 'All Indians are my brothers and sisters' pledge too seriously." Neha nudged.
"Ab tum ye sab utha rahi ho ya maa ko phone karu?"
"Har baat me maa ko beech me laana zaruri nahi hota." She pouted and started picking up the books, and cards.
"Itna drama karna zaruri hai kya?" Arjun made some space for himself and sat.
"Life is too boring with Simply Salted, all you need is a bit of magic and lot of masala. Right sunshine?" She folded the empty chips packet and put them in bag.
"True!"
"By the way, he's Arjun, my brother and IPS of 2006 batch."
Arjun smiled at her.
"I'm Roshni. Just finished my Master's in Social Work."
"That's great."
"One of my friends is also an IPS of 2006 batch." Roshni chimed.
"What's his name? I might know." Arjun was getting curious.
"Sameer Rathore."
"Sameer? He's tall, fair and a moustache guy?"
"Yes."
Arjun's face brightened, "He's my best friend!"
"Oh, you are the Juno guy he talks about all the time!"
"Wow! The world really is very small and round." Neha intervened.
"Seems like it!"
"How do you know my Samie bro?"
"We were classmates in high school!"
"He really talks very highly about you. I've never heard him talk about anyone else like that."
"That guy literally has like 3 friends, what even?"
"I thought it was just the two of us, who's the third?"
"I am my own friend, duh!" Neha imitated Sameer.
"I'm going to read. You guys continue." Arjun said as he picked his book.
"Come-on! It's evening. Andhere me kya padhna, subah subah padh lena. Look at the sunset!" Neha looked outside the window, the setting sun had painted the sky in multiple shades of red and orange. "You know my friend says that Sunsets are a beautiful reminder that no matter how good or bad your day was, it ended and sunrise is the reminder that you always have a new day to start anew."
"Wow! Such philosophy from a sixteen year old, nice!" Roshni smiled.
"Well yeah, her father has a PhD in Philosophy and her mother has hers in Religion and Culture. So it's kinda in the family. Also, I'm bored!"
"Seventeen" Arjun voiced.
"What?"
"You've said that seventeen times in the last five hours."
"Why are you counting?"
"Cuz I'm bored as well!"
"Let's play Uno!" Neha took out the cards from her bag, "Sunshine, you wanna play?"
"Umm, yeah."
"Okay, there's only one rule, no cheating."
The trio started playing Uno. Arjun has been stealing glances while they played.
Next morning,
Neha woke up on her top berth and peeped to see what her brother was doing. She couldn't spot him oh his seat, even his handbag wasn't around. She sat upright on her seat, "Bhaiya?" She got down and asked the fellow passengers who didn't know anything. One of them said they saw him going somewhere a while ago. She looked around, Roshni was still sleeping. She tried looking out of the window but couldn't spot him. She looked around like a lost puppy and was on the verge of tears.
"Good morning dollie!" Arjun sat beside her.
"Where were you?" She asked angrily and tera dropped from her eyes.
"Hey, why are you crying? I just went to get you breakfast. See." He showed her a packet of hot samosas.
"I thought someone kidnapped you. Where is your bag?"
"It's there," he pointed to a corner, "and why would I be kidnapped? What have you been reading?" He laughed.
She hugged him, "Next time don't go anywhere without telling me."
"But my lil snow-white was busy sleeping. You don't wake up easy, do you?"
"I'm not snow-white."
"Sorry, Rapunzel. Come on now, eat this before it gets cold."
"I gotta brush first."
"Get going."
Later that day, when Roshni was away for a while.
"Bhaiya, are you going to talk to her about how you feel or just waste your time?"
"What's the hurry?"
"At least ask if she has a boyfriend! Don't wanna crush your crush already!"
"I hardly know her, I can't ask such personal questions. And I don't have a crush on her."
"That's very obvious. Do whatever, I don't care."
"Thanks!"
Rest of the day he avoided any conversation with Roshni and spent all day reading on top berth and occasionally stealing glances while Roshni and Neha chatted about everything under the sky.
She lit a fire,
but now she's in my every thought
-*-
Hope you liked it!
Drop your precious feedback!❤️💖❤️
Next up: a fancy magical date ;)
Also if anyone knows how to embed image properly, help ya gurl out, I can't do it properly :(
The song is She lit a fire by Lord Huron.
Stay safe and healthy ❣️
Edited by DelusionsOfNeha - 3 years ago
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