A One Night Venture

              Naveen exited The La’ Degray Cafe with his friends at the IBM Customer support. Hands on each other’s shoulder they walked out into the alley with a buzz in their head. They parted with merry hugs and good byes. Most went southwards and some went home by bus. Naveen had to go all the way from Grant road to Virar. It was a long way to go alone, he caught a taxi for the railway station. The driver heard his passenger mumble something about going to station. Naveen rolled down a window. A cold breeze blew in and he briefly thought about his family back in Agra. The thought passed away when he felt a chewing gum besides the seat. Finally around 12:15 am, he reached the railway station.

Grant Road railway station was still crowded with a motley collection of working class people waiting for the train. Naveen joined them. He was feeling hungry now, he only had beer and very less of the veg kabab his friends commonly ordered. So he ordered a samosa from the stall at the railway platform and took a bite into it. He smiled thinking of the time he had once saw flies swarming around it with random strangers touching them to feel if they are warm. He wasn’t a hypochondriac but had a standard for food hygiene. He later had a soda to wash it down. The fizz felt good in his stomach. He stood at the edge of the platform peeping into the dark. The local train was scheduled to be at 12:34, his digital watch showed 12:20. He walked around the platform to pass time and to kill his buzz. He saw a bunch of middle class women standing together for the ladies coach. Some men sat on the truss below the over head bridge. He returned to his original position under the big railway clock. He saw a light coming and then a train arrived at the platform. He looked down at the railway tracks below and wondered if he would fall if he closed his eyes long enough. From a distance he saw men hanging on to the door frames. He cursed; thinking the trains are still packed.

The train came to a halt and two people got down from the coach in front of him. He climbed on board and breathe a sigh of relief, the train was empty. Four men and two young women got in. He unconsciously eyed them after he got in. He was standing in the passage way. Four men stood on door frame hanging on to the handle above them. He wished to stand near the door as well but thought better and remained putt. He mildly left a vibration and reached into his pocket. His cheap mobile phone had just received a spam message. He thought to himself that he will surely buy a better mobile phone with the next month’s salary. A passenger yawned and looked around if he could sit down. Naveen checked his watch when the train reached Borivali station, 12:58am. Surreptitiously he passed a glance towards the two girls again. He tried to figure out whom they were with, it did not make sense why they would come alone into a men’s coach. The passenger besides him squatted to the floor and he looked comfortable now. Naveen hung on to the handle bars in anticipation of his destination. To his surprise, one of the girls,the one wearing a red t-shirt looked his way and giggled, he squinted his eyes sceptically.  Immediately, fearing an unnecessary confrontation with any guardian/boyfriend or even the general public, he turned around to face the door.

The train reached Virar station close to 1:20am. The men standing at the door jumped off before the train halted. Naveen got down and bought himself another soda from the platform. He checked his watch and hoped his roommate would answer the door this untimely hour. He climbed the overhead bridge to get to the west side. Some handicapped beggars were doing late night shifts while some slept on neatly laid out news papers. He exited the railway station and stopped at a beetle nut stall. He bought his favourite banarsi pan and  chewed. A soft voice behind him said, “ Hi”, Naveen turned around bedazzled.”We are really late today. Could you please walk us to our home?”. Naveen managed to mumble “huh?.. what?” The girl in red asked “Our place is just 10 walking minutes from  here, could you please help us...pleaseee..?” Naveen was still trying hard to grasp the situation. “But they look so innocent, and who knows, maybe this could be the start of a beautiful friendship” he thought to himself and smiled. He nodded a yes. The trio started walking down the road. After a few minutes, they were the only ones walking down an alley. The girl took out cigarette carton from her brown purse and lit a cigarette. She gave the sweetest smile and offered one to Naveen. He felt bad to refuse, so took the stick from her hand and held it between his lips. She held a flame on the lighter and he lit his cigarette. They made a few trivial talks on the way. Not that he wanted this moment to pass, but just plain curiosity made him ask how much further their place was. They looked at one another and one of them replied “Oh..just the around the next corner. Naveen was new to the city and likewise new to Virar ,so wondered how he’ll get back. Anyhow, he took a drag from the cigarette again. The next moment he felt a funny felling in his legs. It felt as if he was walking on marshy lands. He began to stumble and one the girls held his arm and placed it over her shoulders. By now, Naveen was trying real hard just to walk ,his vision blurred and he soon passed out.

Naveen woke up smiling to a tickling in his foot. He opened his eyes and saw the backside of an old dilapidated building. The dog stopped licking and went away. He sat up straight in shock and a terrible headache came rushing. He cursed the two girls. It was afternoon the next day and a dumpster lay open besides him. He looked around and only found other dogs eating from the over flowing garbage. He held onto a rusted grill and stood up. His head was still spinning. He lifted his arm to check the time and only saw the un-tanned mark left by his watch. He immediately reached into his back pocket and didn’t feel the bump of the wallet. Naveen cursed aloud and kicked an empty can of coke. He reached into his front jeans pocket and found his CDMA mobile phone still there. He shook his head snickering sarcastically and walked off.