.............it was cloudy but humid. The train stopped and Arun was out on the Howrah station.He carried a small bag in one hand. A copy of the book that brought him to the city was peaking from his shirt pocket. Arun walked towards a rickshaw and asked the driver "Will you take me to this address?" He flashed the last page of the book. The driver smiled and said "May be you are new to this place. This place is right across the road." The reply brought a big smile on Arun's face.
He crossed the congested road. It was an old building. As he entered the building and started walking up the stair it made a squeaky voice. Arun wondered how a woman living in such a building can help other women. He knocked on the door, there was no answer. He knocked hard this time.
"Hello Sir!" Arun moved back after hearing the voice. But then he looked down at the door it was locked. Now he looked around to find the voice. It was a man wearing no shirt, just shorts. He was brushing his teeth with black charcoal. "Sir, madam is not here.." Arun smiled at the man. He walked towards him and said "Do you know when she will return? I have some important work."
The man spat out from the balcony. Arun did not like it and showed his unrest by tweaking his nose. "Sir, she is arrested.." "What?" Arun reacted and continued "But why?". The man took some water in his mouth and started to gargle. He then spat the water out and said "Sir, she is an author, may be you know but lately she had joined the communist. They were protesting against the government and its policies. The protest turned to riots between the police and the rioters. All of them were arrested. She was one of them. Brave woman, but I don't agree protesting against Indira, she is also a woman. Whom do you support?"
Arun started to walk away upset. While he walked down using the same stairs, the man screamed "Sir, she is arrested and imprisoned at the Alipore Jail." Arun felt bad, he should have thanked the man. He looked upwards and screamed back "Thank you.." The man waved his hand to bid farewell.
Arun got out on the road and walked to the rickshaw. It was the same driver "Sir, you did not get what you needed?" Arun was happy to see the friendly nature of the driver. "Friend I need to go to Alipore Jail. Do you know the way?" The driver now showed a concerned look. "That is really far about 13 miles. Take a bus. Arun followed as his new friend suggested. It was after another hour that he reached the jail.
Arun walked to the office out side the jail to take an appointment. While he walked he wondered about the amount of assumptions that he had made. His big assumption being that the girl has travelled to calcutta to meet this author. The second being the the author knows where Kimaya is. The third being that the author will speak to him about Kimaya, after all she ran away she might have asked to keep her identity secret. After knowing the author is in jail, Arun came to meet her again assuming that she will talk to him in the jail about a certain girl that he probably likes a lot. His intelligent brain had boycotted him long back he thought. But he continued to walk giving a deaf ear to his apprehensions...............
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