The Man In The White Dress
Some memories haunt us throughout life. Much as we don’t want to, we are somehow compelled to live and re-live these memories, feeling the pain over and over again …
Ritwik was pacing up and down on the railway platform in Kanpur. He was visibly annoyed at the latest announcement made by the railways, just a few moments ago. His train was now delayed by another two hours, and that made it ten hours’ late in all. He stamped his foot and dug out a cigarette from his pocket, and put it to his lips. As he lit the lighter, his eyes caught the figure of a man wearing white clothes, standing almost at the edge of the platform, near the tracks.
Ritwik was on his way to Gorakhpur to attend the marriage of his friend, Kumar. There wasn’t a direct flight, so the rail route seemed more convenient. He had come to Kanpur on some office work and had planned to go for the marriage, straight from there. He was there on the platform, for more than nine hours already. It was now around 2 am, but the platform seemed as busy as ever. Passengers were alighting from and boarding different trains. Were it not for his annoyance, Ritwik could have actually spent hours watching the hustle and bustle all around. Right now though, he was in no mood to do so; because he knew that his other friends had already reached Gorakhpur, and he was the only one missing out on all the fun and merriment.
The man wearing the white dress, was still there. Ritwik had returned after almost an hour, resting a bit in the waiting room. He was surprised to find the man still there. The man was all alone, and was looking at the tracks, intently. Ritwik casually walked up to him. Sensing someone’s presence the man turned to look at Ritwik, and smiled. His smile was infectious. It was all over his face, his eyes, in fact, his whole being. Involuntarily, Ritwik smiled back.
Suddenly, there was an announcement over the public address system. The Howrah Mail that was scheduled to come on platform number 2, was now coming on platform number 1. It was expected in the next ten minutes. One needed to cross over via the overbridge, to change to the other platform. Many people rushed to take the stairs. There were a few porters around, but many had to carry their own luggage. To avoid climbing up the stairs and then climbing down again, some of the passengers jumped down and were walking across the rail tracks, towards the other platform. It is always dangerous to do so but some people do choose this, over safety, for the sake of convenience.
Ritwik was watching the people who were crossing the tracks. His eyes fell on a woman, with a toddler and an infant, with two bags to boot. The toddler ran and crossed over to the other side and was pulled up on to the platform by another passenger standing there. The woman, carrying the infant in her lap and at the same time dragging the two heavy bags, was struggling to walk. The whistle of the train blew, to announce its arrival. The platform started vibrating. The woman tried to increase her pace and, in the process, unfortunately twisted her foot and fell on the tracks. The onlookers started shouting, looking at the approaching huge engine and the woman with her infant on the tracks. Seeing his mother stuck there, the toddler started howling. To his great surprise, Ritwik saw the man wearing the white dress, jump on the tracks, near the woman, and pull her away with her baby, barely seconds before the train came thundering in.
As the train came to a halt, to everyone’s great relief and astonishment, all three - the woman, the infant, and the man in the white dress - were safe and sound! A few people got down on to the tracks and helped the trio to get to their feet. The woman was understandably shaken up, badly. The infant clung to her, and the man wearing the white dress was helping her get up, with her bags. There were some men who were ready with their advice, albeit a bit late, that one should never take the risk of walking on the railway tracks. A couple of policemen arrived at the site too, and dispersed the crowd. They shouted at the woman and threatened to take her to the police station, but they ultimately let her off, with a stern warning, after she cried and pleaded for forgiveness. The woman was grateful to her saviour, the man in the white dress, and thanked him profusely.
All this commotion had kept Ritwik rooted to his spot. After the crowd got dispersed the man in the white dress came back to his original place, and sat down on his haunches. He looked exhausted; he in fact looked completely drained! Ritwik could also sense a bit of restlessness in him. He got a cup of steaming, hot tea from the tea-stall nearby, and offered it to the man. The man simply reached out, took the cup in his hand, and took a sip. He then looked up at Ritwik and said,
“Thank God I could save that mother and her child. Unlike that time when I failed to save my own wife and child!”
“Really? How very unfortunate!” was all that Ritwik could blurt out.
“Yes, it rained heavily that night! It had been pouring for the past three hours or so, and there was no sign of any respite.The announcement of change of platform came suddenly, almost at the last minute. We had to go from platform 3 to platform 7, and we had a lot of luggage with us. We were going home for Diwali, so were carrying clothes and gifts for everyone. My wife had our one-year-old daughter in her lap. Our porter had gone away, saying he would come back at the time of the train’s arrival. We did not want to risk missing our train and so, seeing some people cross the tracks, we too followed suit. We had to cross two tracks. I picked up the luggage and asked my wife to follow, with our daughter.
I crossed both the tracks, assuming my wife to be right behind me, along with others. But unfortunately her dress had got stuck in one of the gaps in the tracks, and she had fallen down. An express train came speeding down on that track and, to my horror, crushed them to death. They were gone, forever, right in front of my eyes! I just looked back to see their blood-splattered bodies lying across the railway tracks. This was five years ago! That visual still haunts me, and does not let me sleep. Every night I come here and stand at this very place, where that horrid incident had taken place, and relive the pain all over again. I also keep a watch, and try to see that no such accident takes place again!” The man kept his cup down. There were tears in his eyes.
The Gorakhpur Mail had arrived. Ritwik boarded the train, and sat down on his window seat. He looked out and could see the man sitting there, staring at the tracks in front of him. As the train left the platform, Ritwik craned his neck to see out; there was that man, wearing a white dress, still sitting at the edge of the platform.
