THE SAIDAPET SUBWAY
He detested going to the subway
under Mt. Road at Saidapet. Not without any reasons, the red of
paan splattered all over the walls, the eternally untidy steps,
the hawkers spreading their wares along the pathway and more than
these, the destitutes pleading for a pittance .A real nightmare
for him! Nevertheless, he had to go to the other side and started
walking at fast pace. He was almost half way through, when she
came from nowhere. "Sir, one minute… ", were her
first words. He wasn't prepared to give even a quick cursory
glance to the stranger. Not under normal conditions. But this
girl seemed to have a voice, magnetic enough to make her request
a command.
He stopped, lifted his face and had a look at the stranger.
Immediately, he knew that she was worth stopping. Maybe, more
than that! For her face seemed to emanate a radiance and glow
which one sees only in a person with real inner beauty. It didn't
mater that her hair was a little undone. With a pair of wide
expectant eyes, she sported a smile that was uncorrupted and
extremely innocent. He stood there transfixed, bedazzled, waiting
for her next word. She introduced herself as a volunteer of a
students union and started saying about the activities taken up
by the union for students' welfare. She also spoke of the coming
elections and the students' union participation in it. As she
kept reeling out facts and figures of their achievements, she
quietly brought a small, red, old tin can in front of him. And
with a tone of well mixed, beautifully blended pleading and
assertiveness, said, " Sir, please donate for this noble
cause."
All this while, he wasn't even hearing her. He was too transfixed
to even answer her, eyeing foolishly at her face. Suddenly, he
became aware, that she was expecting him to donate something. He
would have given even the five hundred-rupee note that he had in
his wallet, but somehow he wanted to test this girl's patience.
Subtly, saying a sorry, he started moving forward, as if he had
seen scores like her. As he moved, her voice was once again
heard. This time, filled with frustration and total
helplessness-"Sir, can't you spare a single rupee for a
fellow human, a fellow student?"
This was too much for him, too much for his ego. The heart in his
moving body moved and stopped him. He turned back, gave a smile,
as if to make amends and then reached for his wallet. A crisp
ten-rupee note was now in her can.
Having donated a high amount by his standards, he thought, he
could take some liberties. He slowly started asking about the
activities of the union. More than happy with the question, she
started all over again, the birth of the union, their present
leader etc. Off the cuff, he asked if they could talk over the
subway, near the temple rather than in the present filthy
location. Even though he put it as mildly as possible, he knew
that she would start suspecting him, perhaps get scared and run
away. But to his utter surprise, she said "Oh yes! Why
not?" She smiled like a child, being led to an ice-cream
shop. As they were walking towards the temple, he started
prodding her with slightly more personal questions. Obviously he
asked what her
name was. The answer he got, was amusing. She told that people
called her by different names…kutti, moddhu, paithiyum (mad
in tamil)…….
She laughed her heart out when she was finished with the list.
Suppressing his amusement, he managed to join her laughter.
Slowly, but surely, he sensed that there was something wrong in
her. She started talking about her most intimate matters, totally
unsolicited. He noticed a change in her tone too. She became
increasingly childish, no, not just childish, a child! And her
loud guffaws became an embarrassment for him amidst the crowd. It
wasn't long before he finally found to his total dismay that this
beautiful damsel was insane!
His instinct told him to desert her as quietly as possibly or
simply run away. But her one-liner, "Can't you spare a
single rupee for a fellow student?" still lingered in his
mind. He decided to spare a rupee, this time -to make a loud call
to an NGO, which could take care of her.
Trying to be as realistic as possible, he told her to wait a
while before he could make an urgent call to his parents. She
nodded enthusiastically, maybe in anticipation of her ice-cream!
Assuming that all was okay, he told her to wait near the Vinayaka
idol near the temple, turned back and went to a nearby booth. As
he was entering the call booth, he heard the distinct sound of a
coconut being offered in the temple. He smiled. He smiled to
himself. He was already feeling like Rockfeller II! He rang to
the NGO and he didn't even finish giving the full details to
their office, when he noticed that she wasn't there.
She was missing! She disappeared as mysteriously as she appeared.
He banged the receiver and ran in the direction of the temple
only to be rudely stopped by the booth owner. "One rupee 25
paise," he said curtly, not even raising his head. His hands
went impatiently to his pockets, but then his wallet too was
missing……!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Kitchu # 202