At the railway station

A Story by Bhargav

A wife who loves her brother and invites him to her house every once in a while, an obedient husband, and a railway station. What could go wrong?

Like all men who have entered into the devilish human relationship called marriage, Sethi too; had surrendered to his wife’s wishes and commands after about six months of marriage.(Sethi always suspected that those six months of freedom were only given to him because his mother had not taught his wife all the tricks of controlling and manipulating a husband). Sethi had long ago adjusted to this form of life, and even if he didn’t, he had to comply with her, or she would kick him out of the house. Deep inside, he didn’t mind his wife’s tyranny, as long as food was served to him and he was not kicked out of the house. He even tolerated his wife’s scolding. The only thorn in his married life was his brother-in-law. The problem was that his wife would invite his brother-in-law every few weeks, and would treat him like a king whenever he visited. And naturally, he kept his mouth shut about it.
Sethi had worked as an accountant for ten years in a small company that sold light bulbs and gas lamps. He went there at eight in the morning on his ancient vespa scooter and sat on a table and added and subtracted figures all day. In the evening when he left for home, figures swarmed in his ends, and he would randomly blurt phrases like “9 times 9 is 45”.
***

One summer evening, Sethi left his office a little early for his wife had ordered him to buy supplies for his son’s science project. (She had also instructed him to build it). It had been a long day for him, and he felt exhausted. At the hardware store he brought some solar cell and coloured wires. He kept them inside his black briefcase. As he turned towards his home, his phone rang in his pocket. His wife was calling “aye, listen. My brother is coming to our home. Go pick him up on that rundown scooter of yours.”
“but, but, the fair is going on. There will be a huge rush on the station.” Sethi tried to protest, (in vain)
“No ifs and buts. He is coming by the 8 o clock train. Go pick him up”
Sethi cut the call, sighed and drove the scooter to the railway station in despair.

***

The railway station of the city was a long, shed like structure that looked more like a cow shed than a railway station. It had served the city faithfully for around six decades. The station master had too, served as long as the station had existed. It was built after the older station, which was built by the British, burned down completely in a fire accident. (a story for another time).

Sethi arrived at the station an hour before the train was supposed to arrive. He parked the scooter in a scheduled spot and moved under the shade the railway station.
Despite the small traffic of trains, there was a huge crowd at the railway station that day, as the fair was going on.
The fair was what its name suggests, it was a fare that was organised every three months or on special occasions like dushera or diwali. The fair was gigantic, with a variety of stalls selling a variety of goods, from fast food items to cotton goods to rubber balls. The fair also had a variety of shows; like the well of doom and a cinema screen. People from the all the villages in a fifty mile radius came to the fare. And so did pickpockets and thieves. Sethi tightened his grip on his briefcase as a precaution and moved to the edge of the platform, due to the lack of space.
As time passed, the number of people increased. Sethi deduced that the fair must have closed for the day, and the people were waiting for the eight o clock train to go to their respective villages.
Half an hour passed. Sethi was tired from standing in the immense humidity and heat. He was sweating profusely. His legs ached. As his eyes darted across the station, he saw that a seat on the bench had become vacant. With a sense of great relief, he rushed quickly towards the seat, in order to occupy it before anyone else.
When Sethi was only a few meters from the bench, he felt a hand entering his back pocket. Someone was trying to steal his wallet! Sethi spurned around quickly and caught the hand of the pickpocket.
The thief was a small man with the face that closely resembled a rat. He was about four inches smaller than Sethi. Sethi saw that the man had a tight grip on his wallet. Before Sethi could cry “thief!” , the thief struck Sethi with as much force he could muster. The thief had struck Sethi in the stomach. Sethi dropped his briefcase and clutched his stomach. When the briefcase fell on the floor, it opened and revealed its contents. The thief, who had never seen a solar panel before, cried “Run! This man with the black briefcase has a bomb in it!!”
Over the babble of the hundreds of voices, the cry of thief was, magically heard by everyone. A panic fell on the station. People grabbed their bags and children and fled. In unimaginable time, the station was cleared of civilians.
Meanwhile, Sethi was shocked by the words that came out of the thief’s mouth. Sethi knew he was in big trouble. As the station got cleared, Sethi stayed at his place, frozen in shock. From the corner of his eye, he could see that the inspector, (who had come to drop his wife), move towards him, crying “freeze!!”
The inspector brought down his baton on Sethi with a tremendous force. Sethi yelled in pain and dropped to the ground. The railway officer also came rushing to where Sethi had fallen. Another officer was calling the bomb squad. Sethi tried to say, “I have no bomb, please listen to me sirs, I have no bomb” but was knocked out by another strike from the baton

***

Sethi woke up hours later, in the police station. He was given tea and biscuits and later questioned about the events of the previous day. Sethi gave the officers an accurate and true account of the events. Sethi was allowed to leave the police station the next day. He was made to appear before a judge. The whole affair cost him a lot of money and time, as he had to hire a lawyer, for the state had refused to provide him one. Sethi promised himself that he would never go to pick up his brother in law ever again.

Yet, after three months of the bomb incident, Sethi’s wife ordered him to pick his brother in law, this time, from the bus station.