Man in a Stained Shirt
The girl, who couldn’t find her way back home easily, has explored a new city all by herself. She was returning from a solo-trip to Udaipur. These few days have been worth the efforts she made to come here. Now was the time to go back; she had to catch a bus soon.
This city gets dark and quiet soon, she had observed.
The auto dropped her to a lonely road connected to a highway. She saw two women sitting on her side of the road, with a basket of fruits, constantly staring at her. She approached them for the directions towards the bus stand; responding that they had no idea what bus stand she was looking for, they dragged her into apprehensions.
A tea stall, with two customers waiting for their share of tea, and one man preparing the same, were just beside those women. With the hope of finding a way, she approached that stall. She asked “Bhaiya, Dilli jaane waali bus idhar hi rukti hai kya?’ (“Brother, is this the place where the bus to Delhi halts?”) All the three men looked at her and responded with a refusal, almost in chorus. She felt her feet getting buried inside the ground besides that road. The bus was supposed to depart soon, only 20 minutes were left. She couldn’t afford to skip that bus; it was not only about the work she was supposed to do the next morning, but also that she wasn’t left with any money in her pocket by that evening. She took out the bus ticket having the address written on it and showed it to them with a hope of getting a positive response in return.
“Ye toh kai kilometre dur hai. Aap ko rickshaw karna padega. Yahin road se mil jayega.” (“It is very far from here, you would have to hire a rickshaw from this road.”) She immediately ran towards the road in a hope of catching a rickshaw which would take her to the right place. 10 minutes went by, and still no vehicle stopped there. No vehicle but trucks were passing by that road, it was dark and quiet, and her optimism was dropping consistently.
She went back to that stall and approached them again for some help. They were stunned to see her again. “Rickshaw nahi mila abhi tak?!’ (“You still didn’t get anything?!”) She shook her head saying, “nahi” (“no”).
The man had finished preparing the tea, and now the other two men were sipping over the small plastic glasses. He moved in front of the stall and asked her to read the name of the place written on that ticket again. Hastily, he announced, “Main pahuchata hun aapko” (“I will take you there”).
Having a big stain of tea on the left side of his tattered off-white shirt, he had the bottoms of his trousers in shreds. Heavily bearded, he had plenty of gray hairs all over his face and head. He wasn’t smelling too fresh, and had spoiled teeth; perhaps, due to regular consumption of tobacco. Immediately, he dragged an old scooter out from the back of the stall, and asked her to come along. He said, “Betho, main pahuchata hun aapko” (“Hop on! I will take you there”). She got astonished by this gesture. She had her doubts. She had her hopes.
She looked around; she wanted to see how others are reacting to this. Is it safe to go with this man? The man she had just met; the man who doesn’t look too pleasing to her eyes. Growing up in a city in India she had had her own experiences, which had made her to be fearing of the strangers she meets in the dark. All the possible calculations were going on in her head; 10 minutes were left for the bus to leave; this man was a stranger to her; no vehicle is coming to this road, not going would surely mean that she will miss the bus; the city was new to her, she had no idea about the directions, the man was new to her. She believed her gut and hopped on that scooter.
The women with the fruit basket sensed her discomfort and gave confirmation by affirming to her, “ye bahut ache aadmi hai, madadgar hai, tum chinta matt karo” (“he is a good man and is very helpful. Don’t worry”). She was already on his scooter; she smiled back at those women, and pleaded the man to start his scooter immediately. With quite a loud noise the scooter started to run. “Dilli jaane waali bus ke do stands hai?” (“Are there two bus stands for the buses to Delhi?); she broke the 2 minutes of awkward silence. He responded softly, “ji haan” (“yes”). After a few more random exchanges, she realized that just like her he was also uncomfortable. She felt guilty of having those thoughts about him before.
“Ye ek office hai, puch kar aao” (“This is one of the offices, go and ask”). They had reached one of the two stands; she ran towards the office, inquired about the bus, and ran back to the man informing, “Agle waale stand mein aayegi” (“It will be in the other bus stand”). He instructed firmly, “jaldi betho, do kilometre dur hai wo stand” (“Hop on, the other stand is 2 Kilo Meters away”). She instantly climbed on his scooter; he rolled down the handles which gave out the same loud noise once again. “panch minute bache hai, pta nahi time par pahuchenge ya nahi” (just 5 minutes are left, no idea if we would reach on time), she shared her concern with him. He comforted her saying, “Aapko do minute mein pahucha dunga” (I will take you there in just 2 minutes). Now the uncomfortable dialogues had turned into sharing of mutual concerns. There was a connection both could feel. Both were hoping for the same things. Both were working for the same goal. Both were getting worried for her. Both were getting connected silently.
“Puch kar aao” (“go and find out”), he said. They had reached their last option. Only 2 minutes were left. Her heart was racing fast. Yes, this was the right place. She was relieved; she turned back and saw him running towards the office leaving his scooter on the highway. She smiled at him and said, “Yahin ayegi” (“it is the right stop”). He placed his right palm over the stained side of his shirt, and exclaimed, “shukar hai!” (Thank Goodness!). He advised her with a parental concern saying, “office mein hi betho, bus late lag rhi hai. Road par matt jaana, andhera hai” (sit inside the office, I think the bus would get late. Don’t go towards the road, it is really dark). She smiled at him, nodded her head in agreement, she was about to break into a “thank you”, when she was interrupted by him saying, “jaldi jaao andar, seat par beth jao” (go inside immediately, take a seat).
She said, “aapka bahut bahut shukriya” (I am really thankful to you), which went unheard, as he was running back to his scooter. She tried running after him in an attempt to be heard, he said it again, ““jaldi jaao andar, seat par beth jao, road par matt aao” (go inside immediately, take a seat. Don’t go towards the road). Respecting him, she stopped where she was, and shouted from there itself, “AAPKA BAHUT BAHUT SHUKRIYA” (I AM REALLY THANKFUL TO YOU). He turned back towards her, brought both of his palms together, smiled softly and shook his head saying, “nahi ji” (no, no). She smiled back at him, brought her palms together just like he did, and bent her head down a little.
She went inside that office, sat down on a seat, and watched his scooter getting disappeared in the darkness of the highway. She knew this is an evening she would always cherish. It was a day when the stranger in the dark wasn’t horrific to her. It was a day a stranger really cared. It was a day she became a believer again.
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