.............as the train moved, Ramesh got in action. He first unlocked his briefcase just a bit. The train was crowded but since he had practiced the act so well, it was an easy thing for him. He held the bag in his left hand with the index finger, he was stopping the bag from getting locked. His eyes moved around to find a new victim. Once he had decided, he took a deep breath and waited for the train to arrive at the next station.
The train reached the station. It slowed down and people desperate to get down started pushing each other. Ramesh moved the right hand, he felt the wallet. Next step took less than 5 seconds, the small blade taped to the thumb did its work. The wallet fell in his hand, then slowly into the briefcase. The index finger moved and the bag was locked. People pushed Ramesh from behind and he was soon on the station. Once on the station he locked the bag using the secret combination. "Job done !" he thought and gave him self a virtual pat on the back.
It was about 11am in the morning. He had got around with 5 wallets, which meant lot of booze for the week, and importantly he can meet Rani.
The thought of Rani also brought the thought of the necklace that she was once craving for. He decided to go to a lonely place and check the amount of money he was able to rob. After walking another 20 mins in the hot sun, Ramesh found the lonely place. Ramesh was dressed in white shirt, black trouser and a blue tie. It made him look some executive in an office. It was a trick he used so that if the person whom he is robbing do realize that he is been robbed, the people around will not put a suspicion on Ramesh. He learnt all the tricks from his mother's brother Shiv. Uncle Shiv always told him a thing "Ramya, only rob when you are in need" But Ramesh soon realized that needs never end they just become more with every hour.
Rupees 5000 he counted till the last change and was surprised to see a round figure in hand. He mentally calculated the amount of money he would need including the money to buy the necklace. He had to get into the train one more time.The prime requirement was that the train needs to be crowded which at that hour would be many, especially the ones going towards the town side. He was in between two railway station. Ramesh decided not to walk to the station he get down at, there was an element of risk involved. After walking another 30 mins he reached the other station where he got into the train. There were a lot of people as Ramesh expected, but he would need to pick the ones that look to give him the most profits.
As his greedy eyes moved, he saw a person standing in a corner. The person looked familiar. Just as he tried hard to think and recall, he realized and Ramesh started to sweat. The person was one of the few that he had pick pocketed recently. In a city of more than 60 million train travellers the chances of seeing the same man were very remote. Ramesh would not take the same train, of the same route. He would change the time, the route, the bogie. Ramesh decided not to take a risk. If he does anything now, he might get in trouble. The man was staring at him. Ramesh thought he needs to abort the mission and just get out. As the train arrived at the station, Ramesh started to push people to get down. There was suddenly chaos as a person with a big bag tried to get down. He pushed Ramesh, in the process Ramesh was thrown out of the train on the station.
It was when he reached the station he realized what he was missing. The hand was not feeling any weight, the bag broke leaving the handle in his hand. Ramesh cursed himself, there was no point looking for it now. The train had left.An hour back he was rich and now he was penniless.By evening Ramesh was able to recover himself from the shock. All day he walked on the roads not knowing what to do. He stood outside a briefcase shop, he needed one. But will the same trick work, whoever finds his lost bag might give it to the police. The police will find him. He was too scared.
"Sir. hello...." Ramesh turned to see who it was. He looked somewhere when he realized who the person was. "Sir, I am talking to you...look what I have..." It was the same man, whom Ramesh had seen in the train, the same whom he had pick pocketed a week back. The man was standing next to Ramesh now. "Sir, this is your bag right, handle broke and it remained in the train, that man was fool who pushed you out, here it is take it..." Ramesh did not understand what to say. Ramesh wanted to ask "Did you open and see what the bag has, you fool..it also has your own wallet...." But instead he just said "Thanks" "No problem sir, see some ass stole my wallet last week, I was devastated, all my cards, my money everything. I know how you must be feeling so I helped you..."
Ramesh had some money in his wallet, he took out the money and handed the man, The man returned the money saying "Sir a good work is priceless, take the money, I don't want it." Ramesh quickly opened the bag a little bit and peeked into it to see all the wallets. "Combination lock, perfect no one can open it that easily..." the man said with a smile.The man left.Ramesh thought "I have turned into a monster, a crazy, greedy monster, I have given pain to so many, people don't just loose money, they loose their license, their identity cards, their photos, sometimes there is a letter, may be an important one"
Ramesh felt terrible, seeing the goodwill of the man, as against which he was nothing but a rat, that too a one rotten from inside. Ramesh walked away from the crowd and opened the bag. All the wallets were in it, he pulled one and opened it there was no money, he then tried the next one, same result, all wallets were empty, only one of them had a note saying "5000 rupees, and I got my wallet back, meet me next time you ass, and I will give you to the cops....................."
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Simple Life
.........the clock ticked to 2am, and Punit stood on the lone road. There were few dogs that looked towards him. Punit walked a bit, he saw a small temple, he bowed down and prayed. Punit heard a sound, it was of an auto rickshaw. He could only see the light in the dark but it soon turned into proper shape. He raised his thumb to indicate the driver to stop the auto rickshaw. The rickshaw stopped a bit ahead from the place where Punit was standing. Punit walked to the vehicle and leaning enough so that the driver can see his face said "Vintage woods..."
The driver twitched his nose and said "Midnight fare, remember.." Punit smiled to it. He sat in the rickshaw. It was a clean auto, with nice seat covers. The driver had decorated the inside with photos of gods.
Punit looked at each photo and showed his appreciation by nodding his head. As the rickshaw moved, Punit started to look outside. It was a silent city. A few homeless sleeping on the footpath. The only sound that echoed was of the auto rickshaw. Just then Punit's eyes caught something. There was a figure standing. As the vehicle moved closer, he could see the figure clearly.
It was a man about the same age as Punit. He was raising his hand to indicate the driver that he needed a ride. As Punit had already engaged the auto, the driver ignored the signs showed by the person on the road. As the vehicle passed by the man standing, the driver felt a pat on his back. He turned his face a bit, to hear Punit. Punit said "Stop the auto, let the man sit, we can give him a ride. Where will he find an auto at this hour in this lonely city..."
The auto stopped, Punit leaned out of the vehicle and whistled. The man read the sign and showed a broad smile. When the man was standing right next to the auto, Punit said "Come in, I know its tough to get an auto at this hour, I always give a ride to a person if I see them standing, not all accept the invitation." The familiar sound of the auto started again. Punit introduced himself to the man, to which the man replied "Thank you so much, myself Sur.." "Sur! thats a nice name...very unique I must say...so where can I drop you..." Punit tried to be friendly.Sur replied "I am not going too far, I will stop the vehicle when I am near to my place..." Punit smiled and said "If thats what you want..."
"I had a very bad day today, nothing went as planned..." Sur said. "I don't like to stay awake but you know how life is, some times its so difficult at some other time it is very simple." Punit took a handkerchief from his trousers and wiped his nose. He then looked out again, it was a long ride. He then looked towards Sur, who was still lost in his thoughts "In my opinion life is simple, we make it complex by adding things to it...I believe in Simple Life, may be you will not get the desserts after the main course, but you will get a very nice sleep...except today of course..." Punit smiled. He scratched his hair and then continued "You see there are days like these, but if life would have been just about the good days..." Sur cut him by saying "I understand your point.." then looking towards the driver said "Stop, I will get down over here..." Sur got down of the auto, he thanked Punit and tried to pay him, but Punit refused and said, "The smile on your face is worth everything...."
Punit stopped the driver after another 15 minutes. He had reached his destination. Punit said "Alright, time for me to go..." The Auto driver smiled and said "You are a nice man, you helped that man, it was a nice gesture..."
Punit moved a step back and said "Well I had to he is my brother..." The auto driver was confused "Your what...but then.." Punit smiled and then laughed. "Ok, he was my brother, he died a few years ago, it was his ghost, we often take the auto together and act like stranger, its fun.." The auto driver at first was confused, he then gave a scared smile and finally laughed "You are not just a nice man, you have a strange sense of humor too..."
Punit said "good you got that..."
Punit handed the money to the driver, which slipped from the driver's hand, as the driver bowed to pick up the money, he saw Punit's leg twisted 180 degrees from its knee cap. The next day morning office goers saw the auto in the middle of the road, while the driver was dead on the road. Doctor said he had an heart attack.
The driver twitched his nose and said "Midnight fare, remember.." Punit smiled to it. He sat in the rickshaw. It was a clean auto, with nice seat covers. The driver had decorated the inside with photos of gods.
Punit looked at each photo and showed his appreciation by nodding his head. As the rickshaw moved, Punit started to look outside. It was a silent city. A few homeless sleeping on the footpath. The only sound that echoed was of the auto rickshaw. Just then Punit's eyes caught something. There was a figure standing. As the vehicle moved closer, he could see the figure clearly.
It was a man about the same age as Punit. He was raising his hand to indicate the driver that he needed a ride. As Punit had already engaged the auto, the driver ignored the signs showed by the person on the road. As the vehicle passed by the man standing, the driver felt a pat on his back. He turned his face a bit, to hear Punit. Punit said "Stop the auto, let the man sit, we can give him a ride. Where will he find an auto at this hour in this lonely city..."
The auto stopped, Punit leaned out of the vehicle and whistled. The man read the sign and showed a broad smile. When the man was standing right next to the auto, Punit said "Come in, I know its tough to get an auto at this hour, I always give a ride to a person if I see them standing, not all accept the invitation." The familiar sound of the auto started again. Punit introduced himself to the man, to which the man replied "Thank you so much, myself Sur.." "Sur! thats a nice name...very unique I must say...so where can I drop you..." Punit tried to be friendly.Sur replied "I am not going too far, I will stop the vehicle when I am near to my place..." Punit smiled and said "If thats what you want..."
"I had a very bad day today, nothing went as planned..." Sur said. "I don't like to stay awake but you know how life is, some times its so difficult at some other time it is very simple." Punit took a handkerchief from his trousers and wiped his nose. He then looked out again, it was a long ride. He then looked towards Sur, who was still lost in his thoughts "In my opinion life is simple, we make it complex by adding things to it...I believe in Simple Life, may be you will not get the desserts after the main course, but you will get a very nice sleep...except today of course..." Punit smiled. He scratched his hair and then continued "You see there are days like these, but if life would have been just about the good days..." Sur cut him by saying "I understand your point.." then looking towards the driver said "Stop, I will get down over here..." Sur got down of the auto, he thanked Punit and tried to pay him, but Punit refused and said, "The smile on your face is worth everything...."
Punit stopped the driver after another 15 minutes. He had reached his destination. Punit said "Alright, time for me to go..." The Auto driver smiled and said "You are a nice man, you helped that man, it was a nice gesture..."
Punit moved a step back and said "Well I had to he is my brother..." The auto driver was confused "Your what...but then.." Punit smiled and then laughed. "Ok, he was my brother, he died a few years ago, it was his ghost, we often take the auto together and act like stranger, its fun.." The auto driver at first was confused, he then gave a scared smile and finally laughed "You are not just a nice man, you have a strange sense of humor too..."
Punit said "good you got that..."
Punit handed the money to the driver, which slipped from the driver's hand, as the driver bowed to pick up the money, he saw Punit's leg twisted 180 degrees from its knee cap. The next day morning office goers saw the auto in the middle of the road, while the driver was dead on the road. Doctor said he had an heart attack.
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