Ek anjaan se mulakaat (English)

18 July 2008:

It was Friday afternoon in Delhi. The sun was scorching. Our train to Amritsar had just left Delhi. The entire journey from supposed to be from Bangalore to Laddakh. I had left Bangalore on the 16th with my team. We had planned to rest in Delhi for the entire day and then catch the train at night to Jammu.

But I had second thoughts. My sister's house was en route to Jammu and I dearly wished to meet her. No problem with the schedule would occur as I could catch my team at Pathankot the following morning. This last minute change in plans did not go down well with Ashwin bhayia and he chided me.
But my mind was up and I ran to catch the Amritsar train, and without a ticket. Had no time to even buy the ticket!
Anyhow, I paid the fine and reached Jullundhar and as a bonus missed the local train to Pathankot by 5 minutes. Folks who know me well will surely recollect that I am never late by more than 5-10 minutes :)

No problem, I said and took the bus to Pathankot. Soon I was in real Punjab...... reminded me of my good old days in Amritsar which I left 9 years back..... Lush green farms and road-side Punjabi dhabas.

After a few stops, a lady got aboard and as there was no other seat vacant, sat next to me. She asked where I was going. I replied and enquired of her destination. She was also going to Pathankot and so I asked her how much longer would it take to reach Pathankot. “About another hour”, she said. On hearing my Hindi accent, she instantly said, "You don't seem to be Punjabi. We businessman can easily identify by their accent, to which place people belong.... whether Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali or Madrasi. I smiled and amusedly thought, “Hmm, do not all of us possess at least half this capability?”. In North India, for some people all South Indians are "Madrasi", whether they are Telugu, Kannadiga, Tamilian or Malu.
Anyways, her Hindi accent was also not like that of a Punjabi and I asked where she hailed from. She replied that she was from Madhya Pradesh; born & bought up in Delhi. She was surprised to know that I shall reach Pathankot at 8 in the evening and leave the next day itself at 4 in the morning. I told her, "I met my sister and jiju a year back. My cute little niece is 2 years old now and I just want to spend some time with them, and even if it was for a few hours only it would be nice."

She kept silent for the next few minutes. Then she said, "Your sister loves you a lot naa.....”. Her eyes were moist and voice was a bit heavy.

"Ya, of course....”, I replied, “Why would anyone doubt that?"
She said in a heavy voice," I have a brother too. But, its been 18 yrs, since I last saw him."

After saying this, she again kept quiet. She was looking so sad. I broke the silence after a few minutes. I asked her, "Is there something that’s bothering you?"
She said, "You are a stranger to me. I don't know whether I should share it with you or not. But I have a problem and am not getting the solution."

Then I comfortingly said," There are always things that we cannot share with our family or friends, but can tell it freely to any stranger. You can share it with me....... maybe I can help you in some way."

Then she began telling me her story. Some 18 years back, when she was in school, she had an affair with a guy. She was 17 years old at that time. Her mother, who was a nurse by profession, wanted her to become a doctor. But, she was just not inclined towards studies and all she ever wanted was to marry that guy. Her parents were dead against it. They didn't even know the boy and neither was it the correct age for her to get married.
But as is the case with young, immature and perhaps foolish love, one day she eloped with that guy, now her husband. He is currently a businessman in Pathankot. The initial 10-12 years passed away happily. They have 3 kids.
But, for the past few years, her husband has been having an illicit relationship with a lady. There were regular fights at home over this issue. And later her husband left both her and their children and started living with that lady.
She had little option but to take over the business to run her house and provide for her kids. What choice did she have? There was no one to whom she could turn for succor. Many a time she kept telling, "I left my family for this man. I trusted him, left my parents.... my home. How could he cheat on me?"
Now, she dearly misses her home, her parents and her brother. But, she feared going to her parents.

On hearing her story, I asked, "Did you try to contact your parents in the last 18 years, did you even write a letter?"
“No”, she replied. This made me quite angry. I thought that her behavior towards her parents was quite reprehensible. I felt more anger towards her than pity.
In a harsh tone, I admonished her, "For your own petty selfishness, you left your parents, you never even tried to contact them, you never gave a thought about your parents. You surely know how much insult and humiliation they would have faced from their neighbors, relatives and society. You never cared about all that; till you were living a happy life, you never remembered them. Now, in this hour of crisis you are missing them?"

My outburst made her cry. I regretted my harsh words and thought that I shouldn't have spoken in that tone. I was feeling apologetic about my behavior.

She said, "Yes, you are right …. Everyone has to face the consequences of their actions in this life only. And I am facing it now. My parents loved me so much. In return, I had broken their trust, I cheated them. I am now facing the same thing."
After a short pause, she said," I would have committed suicide. But my dear children... I am just living for them. Seeing my children, I realize now that how much my parents loved me. But I reciprocated I by cheating them."

Now I gently said, "Please don't cry. I shouldn't have talked to you like that. I am sorry for that."
She replied," No, I am not hurt about what you said. I am just thinking that whether I will ever meet my parents or not. I have no one in this world except my children."

"You go to your parents”, I advised, “They will definitely forgive you." But she was too overcome by guilt and replied, "No, I don't have guts to go. My brother wouldn't even recognize me; my parents would have erased all memories about me."

I tried to lift her spirits and said," Please don't think like that. Its only children, who forget their parents, leave them. But, parents neither forget their children nor leave them. Anyways, it is children who commit mistakes naa……. To be honest, I can't say about your brother, but your parents will definitely forgive you,"
She said," Why will they forgive me. They will scold me and throw me out of the house."

I said," Don't think like that. Yes, your parents will definitely scold you. They may even slap you, but they will not shoot you... will they? They may not allow you to enter the house. But come what may; don't leave the door till they allow you in. Parents always forgive their children. And, ya.... whatever humiliation you will have to face, that's insufficient for what you did to them..... isn't it."

I just smiled and said," Take your children with you. Old people like interest more than the principle amount, right? Grandparents adore their grandchildren."

She was again quiet. She closed her eyes and was thinking something. I could see a sense of relief on her face.

By now it seemed that we were very near Pathankot. I asked her whether we had reached our destination. Indeed we were in Pathankot and she asked my address. She was supposed to get down at next stop. She told me to get down at next chouraha.

She got up and said," It was very nice meeting and having this chat with you. You correctly said that it’s sometimes easier to talk freely with a stranger. Tomorrow itself, I will go and book the earliest possible reservation for Delhi."
There were tears in her eyes, but also a ray of hope. She alighted from the bus.

Neither did I ask her name, nor she mine. We were total strangers till the very end; I, was a stranger who now knew the intimate details of a fellow stranger but not name!!!!.
I sincerely hope that she had gone to meet her parents......... and am curious to know what happened next. Hopefully things went well.
I don't know her name....... and maybe I will never ever come to know, what happened.........But you know....I do believe that I shall never forget this 1 hr journey………