Sunday, March 27, 2011

A kidnap

The train was chugging along. We had crossed Ongole and the lunch was over. Passengers were sleepy .It was hot in the second class three tier compartment. The fans did not help. I was then I noticed tears trickling down from the eyes of an 11 year old girl in the opposite berth. The middle aged man in a faded jeans and T shirt and the woman by his side with a large bindi and pan stained teeth who were presumably travelling with the girl did not give me a favourable impression. He was admonishing the girl I could gather from his tone and the way his eyeballs turned. I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep but kept my ears tuned towards him.

“Tvaraga thinu” (eat quickly) he was telling her in Telugu

“Vendam” (no) she pleaded in Tamil and started sobbing

“'Edisthe, champestha ninnu'” (if you cry, i will kill you) .She did not reply “Verevallatho matladaku” (don’t talk to others) he spoke sternly. The girl looked at me possibly to see whether I was listening “Kallu moosuko” (close your eyes) he chided her

I suspected that this girl did not belong to him. She looked from her dress and demeanour that she came from a middle class family unlike this coarse couple. As both he and his woman companion were awake I could not talk to the girl. The more I looked at the sobbing girl my suspicion grew stronger and I decided to help her out.

I turned to my wife and started speaking to her in Tamil though the words were addressed to the girl.

“Answer me by doing what I ask you to do. Do you belong to the couple by your side? If you are not, close your fingers of both hands tightly”

The girl immediately closed the fingers of both hands. I was encouraged. Luckily the couple could not follow Tamil.

“Are you being taken away by them against your wishes? If so place one palm of yours on the other.” I asked pretending to talk to my wife. She also mumbled some reply to make it appear that I and my wife were conversing.

The girl immediately brought the palms together. “Can I help you to take you away from them? If you agree then close your eyes three times in quick succession”. I found her doing the same.

“Wait. Do not get down with them as the train is stopping. If they force you scream loudly and refuse to move. Meanwhile I will get help” I said.

I went to the exit door and got hold of ticket examiner. I told him hurriedly what I saw and heard. I sought his help in saving the girl and nabbing the culprits. He readily agreed and sent one man to fetch a policeman sitting in the adjacent compartment. When I rushed back with ticket examiner and the policeman, I found the girl talking animatedly with couple in Telugu.Taken aback

I asked the girl in Tamil “What is this? You said that you were being taken away against your will. I ran to fetch you help and save you”

The girl turned to the man sand said “Naina(dad), what is this man telling me in Aravam (Tamil).He has been staring at me and talking to his wife about me all the time”

The ticket examiner asked the girl in Telugu pointing out to the man and the woman ”Who are these people?”

She replied in Telugu “My parents. Why, what is the problem?”

Both the ticket examiner and the policeman turned to me and said “Sir, you look decent. Why do you suspect innocent people and trouble us? Can I see your tickets please?”

I shrank in shame. Why did this small girl play a trick on me? Is she really the daughter? She feigns ignorance of Tamil when she understood earlier. I was in a quandary.

My wife was upset.”How does it matter which girl gets kidnapped or not? Why did you have to interfere and get humiliated like this? There is something more in this than what meets the eye in this” she said in disgust.

The train stopped at Tenali where we were bound for .We got down hastily in embarrassment. When I turned at the last moment to see the girl, she winked at me with a mischievous smile.

22 comments:

  1. wow kp!! that was one good story!

    ReplyDelete
  2. u seem to be in great haste to update now a days...

    oops... now thats a strange ending for the story...

    i m as confused as the man!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. When I turned at the last moment to see the girl, she winked at me with a mischievous smile.


    ...... I don't think it is mischievous. It is a dirty trick. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gosh...that was quite a twist...But can a 11year old do such dirty pranks...Guess, yes...now a days, kids are far more smarter than adults...uhmm..

    But then, this story gives a thought...Should we really get involved into somebody elses' issue and then get insulted...hmmm???

    ReplyDelete
  5. i never expected this twist.. ha ha.. poor man.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Partha,
    Good Evening!
    I am confused by the end of the story...
    Does it happen?Not sure...but children are really smart.
    You are getting more creative and smarter,Partha..And that really matters.:)
    Wishing you a lovely evening,
    Sasneham,
    Anu

    ReplyDelete
  7. You have much FANTASY
    Love this story :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. initially i felt very happy that here one girl is being saved, but then tables turned..and that girl didnt behave right....I dont know,but I feel that there may be some sequel to it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Naughty naughty girl..
    I wonder why she did that .. But good of the man to try his best .. If we all do that hopefully a lot of kidnaps can be solved..

    No harm in asking I would say even if it ends in embrassement ..

    Bikram's

    ReplyDelete
  10. Excellent story. But what was the intention of that girl. I felt the story is incomplete. It is very good and I felt like reading some more

    ReplyDelete
  11. OMG tats very tricky at such a young age..but as a post i njoyed reading it..

    ReplyDelete
  12. Kp ..long time after I am back here.I ked this story very much.Your imagination skills are beyond words.Stories come up with such exciting twists.I liked the way the gal played the mischief.But why was she crying then ?was that too a mischief?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Namaste......

    The young girl might want to be mindful of crying wolf for the day she really needs help, help may ellude her.

    great story...
    Rhapsody

    ReplyDelete
  14. Good one uncle.Kidnap.. stong name to the storyyyy hhhe L)

    ReplyDelete
  15. The scenario you described could very easily happen. I mean the bit where the guy mistook that the girl was being kidnapped. I had gone to an NGO in Kadiri where I spoke with some girls who had been trafficked with the intent of being sold into prostitution. One of them who had been taken to Delhi, somehow escaped and boarded a train. She hid under the seat and made her journey back home.

    This story could have been a similar one.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ha ha ha...what a mischievous girl, but it was really an embarrassment to the man who tried to help him...

    I don't like the guts of that li'l girl, she doesn't what she'll be up to...

    Hopefully she will not get into a mess sooner.

    It was too kind of the man...I admire him anyway...he was just vigilant to protect the girl from any harm...

    There's just a glitch somewhere in the story...

    ReplyDelete
  17. Interesting. But I would like think children do not play such tricks!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh I love this....! You had me completely revetted. You know I have often almost done this. I was in a hotel in Trichy and I found this foreign couple with an Indian child who was poorly dressed and they were trying to feed this child at the resturant and the child did not look too happy. I was wondering if it was a case of child trafficking until I saw an Indian man coming in and joining them. Apparently he was from an NGO ( so says my local Trichy friend) who gets sponsorships for the children in his orphange. But my mind still wonders.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I agree with rhapsody; in principle every deed has its own consequence or consequences now or later. Hope she realizes that growing up before she gets herself into a bigger mess.

    You're back to your usual writing frenzy. Welcome back! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Didnt't expect it to end this way.....
    Nevertheless another masterpiece....

    ReplyDelete
  21. Another masterpiece.....loved the twist in the end !!!

    ReplyDelete