CROSSROAD

Another Monday dawned.   Streets teemed with men and women racing ahead of time, kids shuttling between tuitions and school, and bone-worn seniors soaking up the post-winter sun.   At a suburban railway station, Devang Chaudhary, early thirties, grunted, groaned, and squeezed through the door of a crowded local train along with ten others.  He was the kind of white-collar executive you’d bump into at a busy station every day – neat formals, unbuttoned collar, and a laptop strapped over the shoulder.   “Dude! Watch it!” he snapped when his laptop crushed dangerously amidst sweaty bodies.   He plopped in through the train’s door and grabbed the first thing he could to break his fall: hand straps.   The train inched for

Over the next few days, the same routine played on like a broken record. The door turned out to be Dev’s favorite spot in the day. Though the vile, disgusting stench hung around for a couple of minutes, the rest of the journey was enjoyable.   As for the balding man, he’d become less cold than their first meeting. He bore his large, white, horse-like teeth and chatted to glory with Dev. His dark skin, dazzling white teeth, and warm, kind eyes were intriguing. To top it off, he had a funny voice, like he had a mouth full of hot potatoes.  “Kamal is the name,” the balding guy stated proudly, “what’s yours?”  “Dev.”  Like always, the train pulled up at the crossing. Dev peeked out of the railings, searching for t

From across the track, she glared at him, a thousand questions in her eyes.    He swallowed hard, struggling to hold her gaze.   She fiddled with a wet shirt, unable to do anything other than attempting to discourage him with a hard, deadly stare. To say that she was petrified would be an understatement. The phone in his hand freaked her out. Clearly, he was shooting her; just like the many perverts she had seen and heard of. Eyes deadlocked on him; she wrapped her pallu around her bare waist.   Gingerly, he turned off the cam and lowered his phone, feeling sheepish. The battle of the stares was cut short when the local train slapped past from the opposite direction with a loud bellow of its horn.   He fought to see through the blur, but he could see nothing.   When the train passed, she was gone, and they were moving. &n

Today, Dev was in exceptionally high spirits. Things at the workplace took a 180-degree turn from awful to awesome. Deals fell in place just like that, all obstacles magically vanished, superiors were pleased with him, and ‘funny’ people became extremely cooperative. Weird, isn’t it? He could only pinpoint his good luck to one factor: the Murgi.    Something about her was extremely auspicious. Getting a glimpse of her early in the day seemed to work wonders, at least for him, or was he just being ridiculously superstitious?  *** Bhoomika stepped out into the backyard to pluck some vegetables for lunch. Yes, that was Murgi’s real name, something which Dev didn’t know yet. She spotted a neighborhood woman and gave a sweet, inviting smile, but the woman simply scooted back into her house.   Her face dropped. She was trying to get used to this… people not returning her smile, not responding to her, avoiding her, but it

Being the weekend, Dev hit the tracks on a different train. It had more standing space than the usual ones, yet, he chose to stick around the entrance and savor the cool breeze whipping against his face.  All night, the rain had drenched the thirsty earth to its heart’s content. It was a cozy morning, the perfect day to be in bed tucked under warm covers, wake up to a late coffee, and have a lazy brunch. But here he was on his daily routine. The fact was he was in no mood to stay under the blankets. On one end, he had his job to look after, and on the other, there was this large chicken that he was looking forward to seeing.  He had become so used to seeing her that a single day without it never felt right. There were two real reasons for him to hit work on a weekend. One, he can save himself from his mother’s nagging about marriage and anything and everything to do with marriage. Two, he also wanted to see her. He had no clue why