How to say goodbye to the subway?

The lecher(To know The lecher click on this link) got down from the train after bidding adieu to his women. Little did he know that another person in the train, a 60 year-old woman, was bidding adieu to the subway itself.

He did not notice this bespectacled lady, holding a bouquet of red and white carnations. He did not see the yellow stain on her white sari, which was a residue of the turmeric-rich fish curry she had for lunch. Thus, the lecher got back to his world, leaving her to continue the series of last good-byes on the subway.

“Eight more stations. Another 22 minutes,” she counted.

She hated the subway. She hated the squabbling over seats, lecherous middle-aged men eyeing nubile young women, and the most of all - the x-ray vision of a woman sitting on the opposite seat.  After years of travelling she had concluded that one thing constant in every underground train is a woman seated on the ‘Ladies Seat’, who scans all the females in the vicinity. From the hole in the sandal to the colour of the bindi, nothing escapes the perusing eyes.

“5 more stations, 13 minutes.”

She had been working for 37 years as an accountant in a private company. It was a ‘boring’ job according to her late husband, who had been a renowned sports journalist in his time. Her stomach rumbled, and she was thankful that the sound of wheels masked the sound. The oil-rich farewell lunch, for sure, did not agree well with her. For a moment the discomfort in her belly, took her mind off from the melancholy state that she was in. But, it came back, flooding her with the thought, “What is life after work?”

“Three minutes, one station.”

The train stopped. She got down, took a few steps and then stood still. She would not take the subway from tomorrow, as she had no office to go to. Her work was done.

She saw the digital clock, announce the arrival of the train on the other platform. She dropped her bag and the bouquet of carnations. She saw the light at the end of the tunnel, drew a sharp breath and…

“She does that every night. For the past 4 years, this has been her routine,” said one aged ghost to a new entrant, a young man who had jumped on the tracks earlier that day. “Four years and she has not learned the art of saying goodbye. She hates the subway too much to bid adieu to it,” he said as he extended his arm to pull her back.

Gainor E. Roberts,Carnations and Poodle, Oil on Canvas, 35 x 27, 1977

Metamorphosis on Dashami

“ Tomorrow you will be me.”

These words rang again and again in her ears. It had been a perfect Navami evening. She had worn a red sari with golden border. He had whispered in her ears (lines from a song). Love is silly but she had been a happy woman last night.

But today she had mutated into a eunuch.

Priyam and Sudipto were returning after an evening of pandal hopping on a crowded local train. They were invited by Sudipto’s parents i.e. Priyam’s in-laws for Dashami rituals at his ancestral home in the suburbs. It was the last local and a few eunuchs had got on the train. They edged their way through the crowd extorting money.

They came towards Sudipto demanded money. Sudipto ignored. They pulled the sleeves and the collar of his kurta. Priyam shouted at them, “ Get out of here”.

“Why should we whore, does the train belong to your father or to your pimp?”

Priyam fumed. “ You pests. Goddamn hijras. Get going quick!”

Soon Priyam had a crowd of supporters. There was a scuffle and when the next stop came the eunuchs were thrown off the train. Just as the train was moving, one of the eunuchs grabbed Priyam’s hand from the window, and said in a cold tone, “Tomorrow you will be me.”

According to popular belief, a eunuch’s curse comes true.

The next morning, Priyam woke up and saw that she was in a filthy room. There were unknown sleeping bodies on her right and her left. She gave a silent scream. The eunuch’s voice echoed in her head, “You are me today.”She apologized to the voice in her head. She said that her husband would worry if he woke up to find his wife missing. The voice just laughed.

A hand was shaking her. “Get up pig.” She saw an odd face staring at her. “Guru is calling you. Quick put some water in your hair . The municipal water seems to have gone to the immersions too.” Priyam felt her head spinning, was it her life or a whirlwind? Guru? Municipal water? Where was she?

She prayed to the Goddess but it was the face of the dreadful eunuch which came to her mind. She put some water in her hair and combed it. As she entered the Guru’s room, she felt like she was in a sadistic-fantasy novel. A portly eunuch, was sitting on a sofa wearing a nightdress.

“How did business go?”

Priyam: “ummm….good.” (“What else to say”, she thought.)

"How much did you pay the police-man?"

Priyam: “…don’t know. Someone else did. (She suppressed a guffaw, “Seriously,I should be smearing sindur on others at this time")

The Guru’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “I was thinking…. I will send you and Chameli to the women.”

Priyam: “Which women?”

“Oooof! I mean Tumpa Di’s girls. She wants someone from our community. Nowadays men, want more than a woman. Hope you understand; changing times...At least you will be paid for your services, and not get slammed for free by  drunken policemen. Moreover the area gets proper water supply. You will be happy. They will come for you soon Durga.”

“Durga, so that’s what they call this body. Paradoxical” she thought. Her situation was tragic with elements of comedy and fantasy , or may be something which her literature professor would describe as- Magic Realism.

A voice called out, “Durga we have been invited to Narendra Babu’s Pujo, he is fielding Guru as a candidate for the municipality elections from his party. Come get ready.”

Drums were beating all around at Narendra Babu's house. Priyam was wildly dancing. She got on the truck which was carrying the Goddess, along with other eunuchs. Soon they reached the river. They slowly lowered the Goddess, into the water. Far away, she saw the setting sun on the horizon. It looked beautiful,so beautiful…

“You look so beautiful in white and red. Come on, father’s friends have arrived and they want to meet you.”

Priyam whirled around. She almost collapsed. Her life had been given back to her suddenly. She thanked the eunuch who had been speaking to her, in her head all this time, but she got no reply. She didn’t know how it happened, but she was too happy and postponed all her questions.

Sudipto’s father was chatting with his friends. One of them said “Do you know what my crazy brother Narendra has done? He has announced a hijra as a candidate, from his party in the municipality elections .The eunuch is called Durga Devi. Hahahahaaa…”

The Lecher and his women

He looked at her in a crowded subway, brushing every inch of her with his eyes. The woman became aware of his intense gaze. She thought, “Damned lecher.”

He threw one last look at her, he liked her hands, soft yet firm. He had his fill for the day. He got down at a station and made his journey upwards into the real world. He reached home, all the while thinking about the woman in the subway.

He sat down on his stool and holding a paint brush in his right hand. The colour drenched brush moved on the canvas like raindrops on a eucalyptus leaf. Unbeknownst to the ‘woman in the subway’, the lecher captured her on his canvas.

She was the eleventh woman who had fallen prey to his gaze. He took time to choose his women, after having realised that real women travel on the subway and don’t come in chauffeur driven cars to exhibitions, to have a glass of wine and indulge in a little bit of art. Twenty-years and a broken marriage had made him a good judge of women; he felt that he knew more about them then they could imagine.

The painting was  done, a couple of days and the wetness on the canvas would evaporate.

One month later

He needed just one woman. He was again standing on a subway station. He saw the train approaching. But as it neared he could make out two compartments on the front which had the word ‘Ladies’ painted boldly.

He got on one of the general coaches. There were no women. He got down on the next station, with an uncanny feeling in the pit of his stomach. He felt betrayed by the women whom he had possessed for all the 11 months. He owned them. He took a deep breath, and waited for the next train to rightfully claim what was his.

This time he got on a ‘Ladies Coach’. They looked at him with disgust. But he was oblivious to their stern gaze. He began his search for his final muse. He looked around intensely. Suddenly he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“This is a ladies compartment.”

A fierce looking female police constable was staring at him; more vicious was her red bindi between her eyebrows. Somehow he stood transfixed in the face of her fierceness.

She shouted, “Hey what’s in my face. Get going or I will…”

Her next words were drowned by the rush of the wheels, as the train entered a station.

As the story nears its end

“Rage, Love, Indifference…you have elegant names for your works”, said a middle aged woman holding a glass of cheap wine. He smiled; he was tired of ‘connoisseurs’ like her who seemed to know more about a creation, than the creator himself. The evening progressed and at 9PM he was at the subway station again. The train rushed in ruffling his pepper salt hair. He went inside one of the ‘Ladies’ coaches. Some of them  gave him puzzled looks  and some were lost in thought or in sleep.

He looked at them cheerfully and gave a smile to the ones who were staring at him.He gave a gentlemanly bow and said, “Thank You for making it possible.” Hearing this the ‘connoisseurs’ clapped their hands and the curtains fell; as the show got over the lecher let go of his ‘Subway Women’.

  

 Disclaimer: Nothing in this story bears resemblance to anything (including the glass of cheap wine or the fiery red bindi). Only the nameless subway women bear resemblance and can be found on any train between 7-10.30 (Monday –Saturday). 

Image: The Lecher, Oil Miniature by Jindřich (Henry) Ulrich, Prague.