Night At The Train Station

The train halted at platform number 3. I stepped down from the train, with the small suitcase in my hand. The station was unusually quiet and empty. I looked at my watch. It was 2 'o clock at night. The train must have been late by atleast 6 hours, since I was supposed to reach the station by 7 'o clock. It was the month of January, with it's chilly weather and foggy sky. I shivered a little, even though I was having a warm piece of jacket on me. 

It was a remote area, and I was the only one to get off the train at the station. There was not a soul there at the station, except for the guard. The lamp posts at a distance were flickering lightly. The train halts just for two minutes at this station. Just as the two minutes passed, the guard blew his whistle and showed the green signal. The train blew it's horn and moved on towards it's next destination. 

My friend Anish had invited me here to his ancestral village home. We had studied together at school, but Anish after completing his schooling, had come back to his home town to manage his father's business. His family consisted of his widowed mother and a little sister. He had insisted me to come there and stay with him for a few days, so on receiving his letter, without thinking much, I had set off. 

But in the hurry, I had forgotten to inform him the date and arrival of my arrival. Nevertheless, it would be great if I reached their announced, and surprised him. But now I felt it was a bad idea after all. At this hour, it was impossible to find a mode of transport in this village. Neither would my friend come to receive me, as I had made the mistake of not informing him about my arrival. The train being late had ruined everything. It seemed like I would have to spend the night here at the station. At the opposite end of the platform, I could see some light come from what seemed like a tea stall. The stall owner was preparing to close the stall and go home. Finally! Another human being! I went up to the stall and asked, "How much for the tea? "

"Six rupees, babu", said the stallkeeper. 

I sat down with a cup of smoking hot tea. I was sure that during day time the station must be having a lot of people, but at night, not a single person was to be seen. I looked at my watched again. It was already 1:45 a.m. Now I was completely alone there at the station. The stallkeeper had left as well. I went and sat on a stone bench. Suddenly, I heard a voice next to me. 

"Hello! Excuse me!"

I got startled and almost dropped the cup of tea from my hand. A young woman was sitting next to me on the bench. I was pretty sure there was no one there just a while back. She wore a bright red colored saree and had long, curly hair, which blew in the wind and had an adorable looking face. 

Seeing me staring at her, awestruck by her beauty, she giggled. I felt shy and lowered my gaze. 

"Which train are you waiting to catch at this hour?" she said, "The last train for the night has left an hour ago."

"I know", I replied, " I had got down from that train. As the train was late, I am stuck here now at the station. I was to reach here by 7."

"Hmm...understood", she nodded, " Hasn't anyone come to receive you?"

"Nah..." I let out a deep breath and explained the whole situation to her. 

"I see. That's a problematic situation."

I had a doubt in my mind. I was pretty sure that I had not seen anyone other than me get off at this station. I was there at the station for quite sometime and had not seen anyone other than the stallkeeper till then. She just popped out of nowhere. What does she want? Why is she so interested to know about a stranger like me? Many questions came into my mind. 

"Umm... Did you get off from the same train?", I asked her. 

She did not respond. It was as if she hadn't heard my question at all.

Quickly changing the topic, she asked, "If you don't mind, may I ask where you're going?"

"To my friend Anish Kumar's house."

"Oh got it!" she replied, "But that is just half a mile away from here. Instead of sitting here at the station for the entire night, you could just walk there."

"How could I? This is my first time here. I don't know the way."

"Oh! I see."

She thought for a few moments, with a serious expression, and then said, "If you don't mind, I can take you there. I'm a local resident, so I know the way."

I felt it was a good idea. I had found a companion as well. We could chat together while going and the half mile distance would feel much shorter. 

"Let's go then. Many thanks to you."

"Great! You're a city-bred person after all, and may find it difficult here."

"How do know I have come from the city?"

On hearing my stupid question, she giggled again. 

"How can I not know? I could tell looking at your expensive suit and shoes. Plus, your body language tells that you're not much accustomed to living here in the village."

"That's right. But you haven't told me anything about yourself. May I atleast know your name please?"

"Sabha"

Even though it was a commonly used name, but I did not know why on hearing the name, my heart felt heavy, and I started sweating, even in this cold winter night. I took out the bottle of water and drank from it.

I asked her, "Would you like some water?" 

"NO! Remove the water from my sight! Keep it away from me!" She shouted at me. I got startled and didn't know why she reacted that way to a bottle of water. She looked at me with big eyes and exclaimed again "I said throw it away", and I did. I was almost scared a little. 

"Let's not waste any more time," Sabha said, feeling more and more impatient, "Get up, let's go now."

She walked ahead of me. I followed her silently, carrying my suitcase in my hand. 

Waking along the long road, I could see huge pine trees around me. It was a full moon night. I could here the sound of owls and crickets. মি

After having walked along the long path for a distance, Sabha took a left turn and started walking along a narrow path. Before I could ask anything, she cleared my doubt. 

"This part is a short cut. But the Rupa garden would fall in the way, so don't be scared."

"Why would I be scared?"

"I've heard there's a lot of nuisance there..."

"Who's? Robbers and bandits?"

"No no" She again let out a giggle, "It's them. Who's name you shouldn't take at night."

I understood who she was referring to. She didn't have to say anything more. 

"But it's good. Atleast I'm there to protect you. No one can harm you as long as I'm here."

Even after having many worrying thoughts in my mind, I couldn't help but laugh on hearing this.

"Really? You, a lone woman would protect me? As if the ghosts would act according to you. You should protect yourself."Finally, we came nearby the Rupa garden. It was more of a small forest rather than a garden. The place had an eerie feel to it. The plants had grown too big and had spread out here and there bas they were not looked after properly. The branches of the trees had intertwined, covering a portion of the sky, and very little moon light fell over the place. The leaves blew violently in the strong wind. I could tell that no one had come by the place, in a long time. But strangely, I could feel that behind those trees, some people were silently walking around, keeping a close eye on us. I felt rather uneasy. Sabha, unbothered, kept walking along and chatting. 

After having crossed the Rupa garden, Sabha stopped. 

"We're here. You see that big iron gate? Behind that is your friend's house. You can go. I'll leave now. Goodbye."

"What?" I exclaimed, "I won't leave you alone in the dark like this. I'll come with you."

"No no...please don't worry. My house is just nearby. I'll be fine on my own. Goodnight!"

Before I could say anything, she walked away and disappeared into the night. I let out a sigh, and walked towards Anish's house. 

Strange! My watch said it was almost 3 a.m. and the lights at the house were on. The door was ajar, so I went inside. I called out to my friend a few times, and he came out.

"Rupam? You here?"

"Yeah you were insisting me to come for a long time, so I thought I'd dropped by and surprise you. But wait... Why are you crying?"

"We'll talk about that later. You've come a long way. Settle down first."

"No, tell me! What's wrong?"

He broke into tears again. 

"It's all over, friend....my little sister..."

He held my arm and took me to another room. What I saw almost made me drop the suitcase from my hand. There were quite a lot of people there, and they all looked heartbroken and were crying uncontrollably. Some of them were crying to console an elder woman (possibly Anish's mother) And right in the middle of the room lay a young woman's dead body. Fair complexion, long curly hair and the same red saree. There was a flower garland around her neck. There was the fragrance of incense sticks around the room.  

"My little sister," said Anish in a trembling voice, "She left us forever..."

I was in a state of shock and could not believe what I was seeing and experiencing. I was overwhelmed and felt nauseous with anxiety. The picture of her face, her laugh kept coming into my mind. We all went for Sabha's cremation and it was morning when we returned. Anish then explained everything to me. 

"Last evening, Sabha had gone to fetch water from the river. There's a problem of water shortage in our village, so we have to fetch water from the river. She saw a small boy almost drowning in the river. Maybe while bathing, he had gone too deep into the water.

My sister, without thinking anything, jumped into the water. She saved the boy, but unfortunately drowned herself. Her body was recovered, but it was too late and we couldn't save her."

Anish again broke into tears. I gave him a tight hug. I felt extremely sorry for him. He buried his face on my chest and said -

"My sister was very kind...she would always be there to help people in need. She wanted to provide free education for children and free food and clothes for the poor. And this is what fate had in store for her?" I said nothing and lightly patted his back and consoled him. A few days later, while having breakfast together at his house, Anish asked me, "Rupam, You've come here for the first time. So how did you reach my home all by yourself, that too so late at night? "

"Someone showed me the way to your house."

"Really? Who was that kind person?"

I did not respond.

"I hope you didn't pass by the Rupa garden?"

"Yes, I came along that way only."

"What? Oh god! What're you saying?" exclaimed Anish, "No one takes that path even during daytime. It's a dangerous place."

"Who could have harmed me? Someone was there to protect me and as long as she was there no one could harm me."

"What do you mean?"

I kept the cup of tea on the table, put a hand on Anish's shoulder and said, "You were right. Sabha was a very kind and helpful person. And her helpful nature hasn't changed a bit, even after death."

It took him a moment to realize what I had said and he again hugged me and broke into tears. 

The next day, I prepared to leave and Anish said he would accompany me to the station. I said he need not worry and he should stay close to his mother and console her in this difficult time, and that I could go on my own as I knew the way now. We bid each other goodbye. It was 7 p.m. when I left. The road was mostly empty. While walking, I was in deep thought, thinking about my experiences in the last few days, and I tripped and fell in a pile of mud. My glasses and suitcase fell off, and my clothes got covered in mud.

Suddenly I heard a woman's voice from behind - "Need some help?"