India Unaltered
At 10:48 PM on 16th July 2014, Pipeline road of Tilak Nagar in Mumbai was partly busy. Though the clock was about to strike Eleven O ‘clock in few minutes, the road was awake, occupied with commuters, buses, light-motor vehicles and auto-rickshaws. An auto-rickshaw with a title “Bambai – Wala” on its back, found its way to the entrance of Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.
From it, Sowmya who was in her thirties, descended first and then she helped her 5-year old son, Govindh, in getting down. Govindh was covered with ash-colored hoodie and a thick-blue jeans. Govindh’s mother had pulled the hood up his head to protect his ears from the cool breeze. Auto driver who turned behind from his seat, had taken the portmanteau and placed it on the road before Sowmya started to scrabble her shoulder-bag for auto fare. After collecting the fee and putting it into the pocket, driver turned his auto-rickshaw behind and followed the same way back in which he had come. Sowmya, now zipped her shoulder-bag and positioned it properly. She held the portmanteau in her left hand and started walking into the mouth of the railway station. Govindh who was only 3 feet, curled his little fingers tightly around the forefinger of his mother’s right hand and moved along with her. However his eyes were inclined towards the red, tiny Lightning McQueen toy present in his right hand.
An announcement was being made at regular intervals for the departure of Mumbai – Secunderabad Duronto Express. Digital time indicators were suspended from the roof at periodic distances of the station. They all bore 22:58 on their display screens. Sowmya and Govindh went towards the 5th AC-3 tier car of the halted Duronto Express on the platform. The couple boarded the train only with a very little effort. Sowmya was happy as they were relieved from the hustle and bustle of the station. She strode decisively in search of the berths reserved for the duo by holding the portmanteau and tickets in her left hand. Govindh was merely following his mother from behind by holding her right hand. Being a weekday, this train was bleak and desolated. Nevertheless, there were few passengers shattered here and there.
Sowmya’s face was lit with relief when she found their berths. Their seat numbers were 41 and 42. 41 was a window seat in daytime and lower berth at night. 42 was a middle seat in daytime and middle berth in the night. She didn’t bother about the 43rd, as it was an upper berth and apparently not theirs. However there was a half-filled water bottle and a small travel bag with a magazine on top of it, lying on 44th seat that was on the opposite section of 41, 42 &43. She pushed her luggage under her seat and sat down taking Govindh in her arms. She made Govindh to sit beside her and removed the hood covering his head. He was rotating the wheels of his toy car as the train started moving. Through the glass window, Sowmya noticed that the time was 23:05 on one of the digital boards.
An elderly person, probably in his sixties, came casually and sat on the 44th seat facing Sowmya and Govindh. He was traditionally dressed, having a Taqiyah (Muslim’s sacred cap) above his head and wearing quaint glasses to protect his eyes. He broke the ice to initiate a small talk and by leaning forward, started interacting with the kid.
“What’s your name?” he questioned the kid with a smile for which the kid replied in a very cute manner only to impress the latter.
Sowmya prompted her son to ask the elder person’s name.
Govindh raised his head and asked the elder person “What’s your name?”
“Abdul Rahaman”, the elder said joyfully. Kid nodded his head and again started to play with his toy.
“Are you both setting off to Secunderabad?” asked Abdul looking at Sowmya.
“No sir, we will be getting off the train in Pune when the train halts for some technical reasons” answered Sowmya with a decent tone.
“Oh! If it is Pune, you must have preferred bus to train “exclaimed Abdul.
“This is unplanned and moreover our destination is pretty much near to the Pune Junction where the train halts” replied Sowmya with a broad smile.
“Oh, even my journey is totally unplanned”, he expressed with curiosity.
Their conversation progressed along with the train’s motion.
Sowmya thought to request Abdul to take up 42nd seat and allow them to use the 44th seat, so that mother and child both could sleep on the lower berths. She hesitated to request him and while she was pondering on this thing, her mobile started ringing. She requested Abdul to watch Govindh for some time and went towards the door to speak over the phone. She spoke to her husband about the departure details and other usual stuff. Then she returned to her berth after about thirty minutes.
Sowmya was astonished to see the present situation. Govindh was sleeping peacefully on 44th seat, with the car still in his right hand. Beside him, Abdul was seen sitting and patting the back of Govindh. Sowmya was deeply touched by this kind gesture of Abdul. However she did not thank him. Nevertheless, Abdul smiled at Sowmya as she returned to the berth and told her that he will sleep on the middle berth.
Having told that, Abdul Rahaman climbed on to the 42nd berth to sleep as Sowmya wished him good night.
She continued “Sir, we would get off the train before you wake up in the morning. I wish you a safe journey”, and lied on the lower berth after putting off the light.
“Oh !, nice meeting you both, take good care of the little fellow”, he replied from the top.
No sooner had Rahaman climbed up, than his mobile started to ring.
Abdul answered it and spoke “Yeah, I am about to sleep” into the speaker of his cellular phone.
“No, I don’t have anything left with me for the pre-fast meal. But I will somehow manage and abstain”, he continued.
“Don’t worry, I will either try to manage or break it for tomorrow. And Yes I
have also set the alarm”, responded Abdul for something asked by the caller and
hung up his phone.
It was around 4:10 AM in the morning when Rahaman’s mobile started
alarming him. Rahaman woke up, put off the alarm and descended down. He noticed
that the 2 lower berths were empty. Assuming that his co-passengers had
alighted in Pune Junction, he went to the rest room to refresh himself from his
sleep. Train was running at a speed higher than he expected. He hardly had a
clue about the current location of the train.
Rahaman came back to his berth with some irregular water droplets splattered over his face. Now, he was feeling better from the grogginess that his sleep had brought. He was contemplating on whether to begin his fasting or not because he had nothing to consume in his pre-fast meal. During the holy month of Ramzan, each day before dawn, Muslims observe a pre-fast meal. After stopping a short time before dawn, Muslims begin the first prayer of the day. At sunset, they hasten for the fast-breaking meal known as "iftar".
So Abdul was wondering, without the pre-fast meal, if he could abstain from eating till sunset. He told himself that Allah would help him manage and switched on the light. To take his holy Quaran, Abdul crouched before 44th berth to drag his bag that was lying under the seat.
He was surprised to see his bottle completely filled with water and a plastic-cover with few apples and dates inside it. There was a small piece of paper lying above the fruits.
The paper read “dada, eat these fruits and begin your roza - me and my son Govindh”.
Rahaman was speechless. He was left surprised with moist eyes. The restless-duronto express which didn't know anything about what had just happened, started to blow its whistle as Rahaman had a baby-like smile on his lips.
Conceived and Written By
Jayanth
