Asha was tired, it had been a long tiring weekend. She was really looking forward to getting back home, back to her own room, her own bed. She wished the train was on time. She felt it was time she told Ajit that he should look for a job in Bangalore. These weekend commutes were really getting to her. But she kept telling herself that this was important for Ajit’s career and it wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy spending time with her husband, she just wanted to relax on the weekends and get some time for herself .
Asha frowned and looked down the platform there was no sign of the train, the platform was crowded, with people sitting on the floors, on the broken cement benches, on their luggage and on any flat surface. It was noisy too, with vendors trying to sell their wares, street urchins begging and the occasional announcement by the Indian Railways that no one could understand. She heard foot steps, she turned slightly it was Ajit. In his hands he held two plastic glasses of hot coffee, she smiled gratefully and took one glass from him.
“Is the train on time?”, she asked.
Ajit smiled, “Yes, don’t worry it’s on time, should be here in five minutes. You should reach Bangalore by 10.00 pm.”
Asha heaved a sigh of relief, she just didn’t have the energy to wait indefinitely for a train today. She looked around the platform again, her eyes lingering on the magazines in the bookstall. She wondered whether she should pick up something to read, then decided against it, she was really tired and could do with a nap.
“Here comes the train. It seems to be exactly on time, I guess even the Indian Railways is frightened of being late when it comes to my wife.” Ajit chuckled.
They looked at each other and smiled, each remembering how they had, had long fights during their courtship period as Ajit had always been late for their weekend rendezvous. Now it seemed like so long back, almost another life time.
Ajit grabbed the small weekend bag, and helped Asha board the train. She had a seat in the AC Chair car section of the train.
“Call me as soon as you reach home, ok?”, Ajit insisted on his wife reporting her activities at constant intervals.
Asha nodded, it had become a routine.
As the train pulled out of the station, she waved at her husband and thought of how the whole procedure would repeat again after a weeks gap. She sighed and then made a conscious decision not to think about it any further. She could already feel a head ache coming on. She looked in her bag for an asprin, luckily she had one left, she picked up the bottle of Bisleri water that Ajit had bought for her at the station and took a sip, swallowing the medicine with it. Then she stretched her feet and went off to sleep.
When Asha woke up she was dis-oriented, it was dark outside and she had forgotten she was on the train. She looked around and found the Ticket collector.
“Excuse me, can you please tell me which the next station is?”
“Next station, Cantonment”, said the ticket collector as he walked past in a hurry.
Asha was relieved, she got up and stretched her feet, picked up her bag and walked to the door. She loved standing near the door and always made it a point to get up a little before the train reached her station.
As the train pulled into the station, Asha smiled to herself, coming back home always made her happy. She got off the train and started walking, the platform was deserted, cold and wet. November rains in Bangalore always made the weather chilly, she shivered, and pulled on her jacket.
Then she heard footsteps and an out of breath voice asking anxiously, “Excuse me, Is this the last station?”.
Asha turned, it was a young woman around twenty five years of age, “No, the last station is city station, get back on the train”, she said.
The woman didn’t look convinced, “Are you sure this isn’t the last station?”
Asha smiled, “Yes, I’m sure, the next station is city station and that is the last station”.
As the woman looked back at the train hesitatingly, the train started pulling out of the station.
The woman now tried to make an attempt to get back on the train but it had gathered speed. Asha looked at her and made a mental note of how strange it was that most people only realized that they wanted something when it was too late.
The woman looked flustered now and suddenly burst into tears. Asha walked up to her, she felt sorry for her. She knew how it felt to be alone and lost in a strange city.
“Hey, don’t cry, you just need to take an auto to the city station. Is someone meeting you there? It’s pretty late.” Asha said, looking at her watch.
The young woman lifted her tear stained face, “My husband said he would be waiting for me at the last station. This is my first trip to Bangalore.”
“Well, don’t worry then, its not far. Come on, I’ll drop you, my car and driver will be in the parking lot”. Asha had stopped relying on the auto drivers a long time ago, she hated being at their mercy.
The young woman nodded, but her face was expressionless. She still seemed very troubled by her predicament. Asha decided to give her time to recover her composure.
When they reached the city station, it was deserted except for some porters who were taking a nap while waiting for the late night trains to come in. Asha and the young woman walked up and down the platform but there was no sign of the young woman’s husband. It was already eleven ‘o clock. Asha decided to check with the station master. The station master was a helpful friendly old man. He said no one had been here looking for a young woman but perhaps her husband had been delayed.
The young woman suddenly came out of her reverie,
“I’ll be fine now, Thank you for dropping me. Please don’t wait. You’ve been very kind to me, I’ll never forget this.”
Asha smiled, “No problem. Take care then, I hope your husband comes soon.”
Asha thanked the station master and left. She slowly walked back to her car, it had been a very very long day. She was looking forward to getting home and having a hot bath and some food.
After a week, Asha was back at the station returning from Chennai and as she jumped off the train and started walking towards the exit, she heard a familiar voice say,
”Excuse me, Is this the last station?”.
