I finally reached Kolkata! I was glad to see Appa's driver at the station. "Jaffer Bhaaaai, Id Mubarak.", I exclaimed. "Is baar Id nahi hai.", he said, with a faint, forced smile. Before I could ask an insensitive question, Amma dragged me to the side and quickly told me how Jaffer Bhai's sister was shot dead! - in an encounter between some goons in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. A civilian - for no fault of hers - is dead. The drive back home was unusually quiet, except the reflection in the mirror that spoke to me, mutedly. The controlled tears brimming in his eyes asked me several questions.
My train to Kolkata reached the city, a whole nine hours late. The rumor was that a rail track in Berhampur, Orissa was bombed by the Naxals. Almost 11 bogies of the train were derailed. It felt terrible, but at the same time, I thanked my stars - rather selfishly, that I only got delayed. I told myself that I'll avoid taking the train on my way back. The next minute, a co-passenger is talking about how all the airports are on high alert! Then, I heard about the SIM scandal here, connected to the Mumbai terror attack. Police everywhere. My mind floated back to the Goa film festival - that's where I was when the attack in Mumbai happened. When I took longer than a minute in the restroom, a policewoman banged the door, rather impatiently. She probably thought I was a suicide bomber, desperate for some blood-spill.. waiting to destroy India!
When I look around, I see masks everywhere. I want to look through a sieve.
This's probably my biggest fear - There'll be noone I can trust. There'll be noone left to love.
My train to Kolkata reached the city, a whole nine hours late. The rumor was that a rail track in Berhampur, Orissa was bombed by the Naxals. Almost 11 bogies of the train were derailed. It felt terrible, but at the same time, I thanked my stars - rather selfishly, that I only got delayed. I told myself that I'll avoid taking the train on my way back. The next minute, a co-passenger is talking about how all the airports are on high alert! Then, I heard about the SIM scandal here, connected to the Mumbai terror attack. Police everywhere. My mind floated back to the Goa film festival - that's where I was when the attack in Mumbai happened. When I took longer than a minute in the restroom, a policewoman banged the door, rather impatiently. She probably thought I was a suicide bomber, desperate for some blood-spill.. waiting to destroy India!
When I look around, I see masks everywhere. I want to look through a sieve.
This's probably my biggest fear - There'll be noone I can trust. There'll be noone left to love.
