The Young Man On The Train

By Priyangshu Misra

The train was overcrowded and bustling with people. People of different kinds , different ages and different genders. Men , who were talking animatedly about the countries politics and how that have effected their lives , while shifting their bodies constantly , tired of sitting in the same positions.

The women , were generally minding their own business and tending to their little children , who were mostly hell bent on escaping their mother's clutches and run freely inside the train compartment. A few ladies did complained about the extremely hot weather to each other and how sitting in a crowded train , wearing a saree , was a hellish torture in itself. This was the usual environment which prevailed inside the intercity train , which was going from Dehradun to Delhi.

" Going to the big city , huh? " An old man with a cane asked the young fellow who was sitting quietly beside him. The young man , who was dressed completely in black , was at first , so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even hear the question. The old man again asked , this time with a little irritation in his voice , as he somehow must have felt the young fellow was behaving with insolence towards him. " Are you deaf or something , boy. I am asking you something " . This time the young fellow tilted his head slightly towards the old man.

" Sorry , if i had offended you , but can you please repeat what were you asking me again? " The young fellow said in an extremely charismatic manner with a pleasant smile plastered to his face.

" I asked if you were migrating to the big city , that's all " the old man repeated , somehow becoming uncomfortable while looking into the young man's gaze.

" Yes , you have made the correct guess. I am moving to delhi for some better work opportunities. Dehradun had grown too small for me " the young fellow replied , his smile grew even more bigger while thinking about life in the big city.

" And what kind of work can you do? " The old man asked the young man , for some strange reason , getting intrigued by him.

" Well , i have not been to a college and don't have no formal degree , so any job in a big corporation is out of the equation. So , the only road for me is some odd job which i believe will be plenty in a city like Delhi " the young fellow remarked in a honest fashion. The old man looked at the young fellow , this time with more scrutiny than before. He was probably in his mid 20s and looked very dapper. Not at all , like the odd job workers that he had seen in his lifetime. But , he didn't question him any further on this subject.

" Do you know anything about handicrafts? " The old man asked the young fellow very abruptly.

" Uh...well...not much but i could surely learn if someone was willing to teach me " the young fellow was taken aback by the question at first but he quickly recovered his pleasant composure and replied to the old man with honesty.

" Fine , then! When we reach delhi , you can come and work for me. I have a small handicraft business in the Pahar Ganj area , not fancy by any standards , and if you feel like you can join it " the old man suggested and the young fellow immediately agreed on the spot , asking no question further.

" Alright , that's wonderful news then. You got your job and i got another pair of helping hands. I , usually , oversee the business with my son , rohit , but having you will ease the burden on him too. So , take my card and come to the address mentioned there after you have settled yourself in the new city " the old man passed on his business card to the young fellow who immediately started glancing at it.

" Your name is Harish , right? The one printed on the card " the young fellow inquired.

" If that's the name printed there , then you bet that's my name " the old man said in a comical manner and then suddenly asked , " By the way , i have not yet asked for your name ".

" Its Soham and its a pleasure to meet you " he finally offered his hand towards Mr Harish and they shared a handshake and the deal was done just like that.

Suddenly , a member of the railway staff came and shouted that the next destination is ' Delhi cantt '.

" Oh ! There comes my stop. Will you be deboarding here , too? " Mr harish asked soham.

" No , no , my destination is the old Delhi station. The last stopping point of the train " he replied back. Then , he quickly added , “ But , you said your workplace is in paharganj , which is closer to the old delhi station.So , is your residence here? “.

Mr Harish replied with a little smile , “ No , my residence is in paharganj too. I just have to meet a dealer here and discuss some work related matters with him “. Soham didn’t say anything and simply nodded on hearing that.

" Okay , then see you in a couple of days , kid " Mr harish again extended his hand and they shook on it and then exchanged their goodbyes.

And just like that , about four days later , Soham was standing infront of the address which was printed on the card. ' Harish and Son Textiles ' announced a big board hanging infront of the building. ' Building ' would be a wrong word to use in this instance. It was more of a small , old , house where the big front area at the entrance had been converted into a shop. A few workers were continuously working on the weaving machines which had been placed there.

Soham , quietly and discreetly , made his way inside the shop throwing a few glances towards the workers who , in turn , were so engrossed in their work that not a single one of them lifted their glances towards him. " Hmm..very disciplined workers. That's a sign of a well run establishment " Soham mused to himself and then made way towards the little office at the far corner of the building.

Mr Harish was going through some papers , glancing very attentively at them. His cane was resting on the side of the table and he was massaging his right leg , which was the wounded one , almost involuntarily.

" May i have the permission to come in? " Soham asked while knocking at the door. Mr Harish lifted his eyes from the papers and when he saw soham his face immediately brightened.

" Ah ! Soham , come in...come in. I have been wondering when i would be seeing you " Mr Harish got up from his chair and gestured with his hand to him to take a seat. Soham took the seat and then they started talking like two old friends meeting after a long time.

" So , where are you staying , by the way? " This was the first question that Mr Harish shot in his direction.

" Uh..i am staying in the Mayur Vihar area. I knew a guy there , who is from my own hometown , and he set me up a decent flat " Soham replied back earnestly , his greyish eyes lighting in a smile. " And , frankly speaking , delhi is well connected because of the metro so traveling is not an issue ".

" Well , that's very good that you are nicely settled into this new environment. Now , about your work here , when do you wish to start? " Mr Harish asked him , this time in a slightly formal manner.

" I have come here ready to join from today , if that is not an issue with you " Soham replied back , much to Mr Harish's delight. He started to like this young man even more than before.

" Now , that is the spirit young man. Here , let me call my son rohit and introduce you both. You both would be working together and would supervise the progress made by the workers on the daily basis " he said to soham and already started to leave the room to call for his son. " Let me see if he is inside the house. You wait here just a moment " . Having said that , Mr harish left soham alone in the office and went away to find his son while leaning on his stick and walking heavily.

With nothing to do , soham started to let his eyes roam around the room in a leisurely way. It was a small office , nothing fancy by any standards , and only consisted of a table and three chairs and a sofa at the far right corner. The walls were uneven and looked like they were in need of some repairs. There was a wardrobe or , an almirah to be exact , in the far left corner too , adjacent to which was a very small door. The door was closed and it looked like it opened directly into the house which was attached to the shop. Overall , the office was not filthy by any standards but still a little bit of work could literally change its whole appearance and make it more presentable.

Just when he was making these mental notes on how to make the office a little more fashionable , he heard footsteps at the door and , immediately , straightened his posture and turned around to look in that direction. He saw mr harish enter , accompanied by a much younger man , who was no doubt his son. The resemblance was so uncanny that anybody could pinpoint that they were blood related. The son had the same forehead like his father , although his was still covered with a great mop of hair unlike his father's balding one. The eye shape was extremely identical too , although the colour was slightly different. Mr Harish had deep black eyes , like that of a brilliant night sky , while his son's were a pair of light brown ones which radiated beautifully.

" Soham , i want you to meet my son , Rohit. You both would be working together from now on and i wish that you would ease into each other's company " Mr Harish declared while keeping his cane on the side of the table where it was kept before and easing himself into his chair. The two young men shared a few friendly smiles before shaking hands. " Its nice to finally meet you. Ever since , my father met you on that train he has been talking constantly only about you " Rohit said that in awe , as if he was finally meeting some mythical creature that he has been hearing about all his life.

" Oh ! I didn't knew i made that good of an impression " Soham replied back , a little embarassed and flushed.

" For some reason you did that. And , i am grateful for that as it would be nice to share the work load with you. I mean , ours is by no means a big business , but still sometimes it can get hectic during some months when the demand is high " Rohit said to soham who was nodding to his every word.

" Would you like to look closely at how we go on about our business here. My father told me that you wanted to start today itself " Rohit remarked looking directly into soham's eyes.

" Yeah , i wanted to start today itself. I don't believe in delaying my good fortune and this job is definitely a good fortune for me " Soham declared to him , smiling gratefully.

" Alright , then. C'mon , i will show you around here " Rohit said and gestured soham to follow him. Soham looked towards Mr Harish and saw that he was smiling faintly while looking at both of them. He cued him to follow his son and soham , very quietly , followed rohit who was already out the door. Mr Harish didn't knew the exact reason for his liking towards this young man. Maybe , he reminded him of himself when he first came to this city , many years ago , in search of better prospects. Whatever small success he has tasted it had all come from his own efforts. So , seeing this young fellow trying to find his way into the world reminded him of his own youth. " Let's see if this young man could find his way through in this ruckus of a world " Mr Harish mused while slowly caressing his right wounded leg , the major bane of his life.

Time passed , like it always does , and soham had , very easily , assimilated into the workings and even the lives of harish uncle , he had been ordered to ditch the mr harish moniker , and rohit who had become like a brother to him. His daily dinner has also become a fixed routine in harish uncle's house. Mr Harish even asked him to stay with them. " I am a widower as you can see. Rohit's mother had passed away two years ago and only the two of us live in this big house. So , if you would like to stay with us , you are most welcome here " Harish uncle suggested to soham one day while the three of them were having dinner. Rohit too chimed in and insisted on the same thing. " That's very generous of you both and i am deeply touched by it. But , i rather like my accommodation. But , if i had any problems with it , i will surely shift with you both. And , once again , thank you so much for the offer " soham said eyeing both of them with thankful eyes.

" Okay , as you wish. But , remember our door is always open for you " Harish uncle announced and that ended the subject.

The work was not much by any standards , they only had like five workers , and pay was enough for soham to not be in any financial distress. On the weekend , rohit took soham to do some sightseeing in the new city. The ruins of hauz khas , india gate , monuments like qutub minar about which soham had only heard about were now being explored by him in person. These were not big things for a local person but for soham , who comes from a small town , these were marvels to behold. " You look really smitten , pal " rohit slightly teased soham , looking at his open mouthed dumbfoundedness.

" Well , it may be normal for you but for me this a completely new experience. Its obvious that i would be a little tongue tied " Soham said , a little flabbergasted. They were now sitting at a tea stall or a , tapri as it is mostly called by the locals , smoking a cigarette and talking animatedly about the the upcoming work day. " Ramesh was asking for some days off. He needs to leave for his hometown as his father died a few days ago " soham informed rohit who was unaware of that fact.

" Okay then , i will talk with my father about that " rohit said while eyeing soham in a strange way. " My father was right. You really have a way with people. I have known ramesh for such a long time and yet , he comes to you in his time of distress " rohit said , sounding very proud of his friend's easy going and charming persona

" Well , what can i say. Its inbuilt , i think. Do you want some lessons to learn that? " Soham bantered with his friend. They both shared a laugh and started smoking again.

" You know what , i could..." Soham began to say something but stopped himself abruptly. " What's wrong? " Rohit asked him when he saw his friend jerk his head in the other direction. He followed soham's gaze and saw that a man was beating a dog mercilessly and the dog looked already half dead by this point.

The next moment , before rohit could even grasp what was happening , soham was out of his seat and was already on the top of the man , punching him repeatedly like a crazed animal. Rohit , immediately threw the cigarette that was in his hand and ran to pull his friend off of that man. Some other people also gathered and tried to pull soham off but to no avail. It seemed like he had the strength of a bull and no amount of force could deter him off.

" Soham , leave him. He is already half dead " rohit repeatedly screamed while trying to pull him off. But , soham kept on pounding the man like a punching bag , with blood oozing all over the street.

" Soham , the dog is wincing in pain. Its already half dead. Lets get it to the vet first " rohit said to soham when he saw no other way to stop his angry friend. And the trick literally worked because as soon as those words reached soham 's ears , his punching started to cease. The man , who was the victim of this tirade of punches , was already unconscious. Soham , very slowly , faced his friend and , for the very first time , rohit saw a completely different side to his friend. He was huffing , puffing , and snorting like a wild animal. " C'mon , lets go " he only said these three words to rohit before picking up the injured dog and making a way out of the crowd.

" Hey , you can't go away like this. We have to report you to the police " a man said from the crowd.

" I am going to get this poor animal to a veterinarian. Now , if any of you scoundrels want to stop me , let me assure you , you will also be lying on the street like that bastard over there " soham shouted with such aggression that the people gathered there took a step back and kept their mouths shut. Rohit , immediately , called an auto and the two of them went away to a veterinary hospital.

Their way back from the vet was quiet. Soham was looking out of the window and rohit , on his part , just stared at his friend and was unable to figure out what to say. Everything was fine. The vet assured them that the dog would recover and would be absolutely well in a few days. But , rohit was still stunned from seeing his friend's violent side. Anger was an emotion he understood. He had it , his father had it just like all the people all over the planet had it. But , this was different. Soham wasn't just angry when he saw that man attack that dog. He was literally like a wild animal with his eyes screaming murder. " If i hadn't given him the excuse of the dog's condition he would have really killed that man " rohit shuddered at that very thought.

" What happened to you back there? " Rohit , finally , put forward the question although he did it with extreme gentleness. After seeing that violent avatar of his friend he didn't want to get on his bad side.

Soham was quiet for a full minute. He didn't twitch , didn't even move a muscle and looked like he didn't even hear the question. But , he did hear it because after a minute he did answer but in a very few words. " I don't like people who tries to dominate , to bully , weaker beings than them. It triggers something in me and i can't help it " soham 's voice sounded very pained while he said that. And that was all he said the whole way.

When rohit got off at his house he told his friend to take a day or two off. " I will make an excuse if my father asks about you. You just take some time to recollect your thoughts " rohit said with concern in his voice for his friend. Soham didn't say anything to it and just nodded. And , then he was gone , with the autorickshaw tearing away through the delhi traffic.

Three to four days went off and there was no trace of soham. Not even a phone call from him graced rohit's ears. It was as if he had completely vanished from their lives. Mr harish was the one who was more disturbed by his sudden disappearance because he didn't have any clue of the reason behind it. " What happened to that boy? " He lamented over dinner one time , to which rohit had no answer to offer.

And then , suddenly , on the fifth day soham came back in high spirits , as if nothing had happened. When he was asked the reason for his absence by harish uncle he just gave a generic excuse of being afflicted with fever and back spasms. " I am fine now , though. Maybe it was the weather that got to me " he announced with a steady smile , so convincing he looked even to rohit that there was no chance of any questioning back.

" Okay , fine. But , next time if you ever fell ill , call us. When someone is down with illness that person needs love and care from people close to them. They don't go into hiding like you. So , don't ever do that again , is that clear? " Harish uncle's tone was commanding but very fatherly and it bought a great elated smile on soham' s face. " Yes , sir , i will never do that. I promise you " soham replied back to him with a broken voice as if choking from the inside with tears.

When both of them came out of the office , soham , immediately , pulled rohit to a corner and started talking to him in a low voice. " I am sorry about what happened that day. I must have freaked you out and that was never my intention ".

Rohit nodded and then replied , very cautiously , " You don't have to apologise to me. You did a good thing that day by saving that little dog's life ". His voice was reeking with respect for his friend's action that day. “ Did you had any problem with the police? “ he quickly added to which soham replied in negative. “ I believe he was just some drunk and so he didn’t even bother to come in contact with the law “. Rohit nodded but , then he gently remarked , eyeing soham strangely , " What was odd for me was seeing you in that , trance like state. Like you weren't yourself at that moment "

" Truth be told , i wasn't " soham , immediately , replied to rohit with a straight face. " When i see bullies things stir up inside me and bring back memories from my... childhood " he said the word ' childhood ' with a pained expression , like there were demons in his past that still haunted him.

Rohit , on seeing that expression , didn't question him further on that subject. From the moment , he had met soham he always had seen him as a very lively and charismatic sort of fellow. Rohit couldn't have , not even in his wildest dreams , thought that his friend could be a traumatized person. That , there could be things in his past that could still stir something inside him. He wanted , so badly , to ask his friend about his past and what event it was that had scarred him like that and still could bring out something very primal in him. But , he stopped himself from doing that. If soham was not ready to share his story , yet , then it was not his right to pester him about it.

" I will not ask you about your past. Not until you decide to tell me yourself. But , if you ever feel the need to share your story , just to ease the burden , then i am all ears " Rohit said , at last , with a compassionate expression on his face. Soham , instantly , gave him a hug on hearing that. " I will tell you everything , one of these days. And , thank you , for respecting my privacy " he said with a few tears glistening his eyes and that ended the topic , for now.

And , life again resumed and went back to normal. The always smiling and charming soham whom everyone loved , even the workers , returned and everything went on smoothly. Soham even shifted into harish uncle's household. " You are going to move in with us and i am not going to hear a no as an answer " Mr Harish declared to soham one day , again in that fatherly tone , and soham didn't make any excuse this time. Soham got a fatherly figure in his life , whom he immensely respected , and a brother in the form of rohit , whom he adored wholeheartedly. So , that was the most happiest he has ever been in his life. But , that was just the calm before the storm. A storm that he thought had escaped completely.

One fine day , when soham and rohit had gone out to meet some dealers and talk to them about the distribution of the materials , a man came into the handicraft shop. It was a Saturday , a weekend , so the workers had the day off. Only mr harish was there and he was quickly going through some files to estimate how much sales they had made in the previous month. The man came , straightaway , barging into the office like he owned the place. " Excuse me , could someone tell me who is the owner of this place? " He asked in a rough , raspy voice which was meant to sound confident and a little bit intimidating.

Mr Harish glanced up from his papers and looked at the man. He was a big , burly , man with a rough looking face. There was a scar on the left side of his face which ran down towards his throat and it made him look even more menacing. " As a matter of fact , you are looking right at him. I am the owner of this joint and may i kindly ask how can i be of service to you? " Mr harish asked him amicably , trying to look past the man's brutish appearance.

The man didn't waste any time in offering his name or explaining anything about his visit. He , straightaway , put a hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a photograph. " Have you seen this young man? " He asked clearing his throat and looking intently at Mr Harish's face. Mr harish looked at the photograph and was so shocked that he couldn't help taking a step back. It was soham's face which was staring back at him from the photograph.

" Where did you get that photograph from? " Mr harish asked still staring intently at the photograph.

" That's not important and it doesn't concern you. You just answer the question " the man said brusquely. Mr Harish averted his eyes from the photograph and towards the man. He looked angry and it made his rough hewn features even more menacing. " First of all , you are standing in my establishment. I am the owner here , not you , so watch your tone " he said to the man in an equally rough tone , standing his ground completely. Hearing that , the man slightly lessened his scowl. " And , secondly , " Mr Harish continued , " what gave you the idea that this man is associated with my working place ".

The man put the photograph in his jacket pocket again and then , very warily , his eyes totally focussed on mr harish's face , he replied , " I have been roaming about this big city for many days looking for this man. And , when i came into this area only then i was pointed towards in the right direction. It has even come to my attention that this particular fellow has moved into your household , it there any truth in that? ". The man had now moved an inched closer than before and he , with his imposing figure , towered over the frail mr harish.

" Yes , you have heard correctly. This boy lives with me now and i don't think anybody should have a problem with that " Mr harish said in a highly assertive way. Hearing that , the man gave a sinister smile. " I think you made a very big mistake in giving this man a place in your household. Some , would say you have signed your death sentence " he said , enunciating each word , no doubt to produce a fearful effect on mr harish.

But his effort failed in utter grandiose because mr harish didn't budge one inch on hearing that threat. " Yeah , well , whoever has any problem with that can shove it up his ass because it is my business and only mine alone " mr harish delivered that line like it was an ultimatum. On hearing that , the stranger was even madder than before and he started talking animatedly while raising his finger at him , " Look , old man , i have no quarrel with you. But , you're really starting to get on my nerves now. So , better back off and just give me what i need ".

" Well , then you can , very kindly , get out of here because you are not getting to the boy without dealing with me first " Mr harish said to him icily.

" Very well , then. I mean , i tried to be reasonable with you " the man said while putting his hands into his left jacket pocket and , immediately , pulled out a revolver which he pointed at mr harish. " Go on , then. Shoot me. You are still not going to get anything from me " mr harish said to the man without showing any fear on his face.

" Oh ! Very happily , i would do it. But , just not yet " the man laughed very loudly , his laugh resonating through the empty shop.

It was a hour and a half later , when soham and rohit came back from their errand. " I think we got a good quotation for the the materials , don't you think? " Rohit happily said to soham.

" Yeah , i think it was a mission we passed with flying colours. Lets , see your dad's reaction when we show him the quotations. I think he will dance like a little child on seeing them " soham said flashing a brilliant smile on conjuring the image of harish uncle dancing like a child. When they entered the shop they saw that the door of the office was wide open. " Now , that's funny. I have never seen my dad leaving the door open like that , ever. Even when he is inside he would always have the door closed. What do you think? " Rohit said in a light hearted manner but when he saw soham's face his jollyness disappeared.

" Hey , what's got into you? You look like you have seen a ghost or something " rohit said to soham whose clenched jaw and hardened features showed that he was sensing something bad.

" Your father is in danger , rohit. My past is here and he will hurt anyone to get to me " Soham said with a guilty expression. Before rohit could understand and react to this sudden change in the scenario , soham quickly ran to the farthest corner and grabbed two huge , heavy , wooden bars. " Here , take this. We will both have to be strong now to come out of this situation " he said , offering rohit the block of wood.

" But , what....what exactly is happening? I don't " rohit couldn't complete what he was saying because soham signalled him to keep quiet. " See , i know you are confused but right now i need you to let go off any fear or confusion and only operate on efficiency mode. Our lives , all three of us including your father , depends on that. Now , do you follow me till now " he asked in a hushed tone to rohit who nodded immediately to it.

" Good , then i will enter the office from the front and you have to very quietly manuvere through the back door into the office. You understand? " Soham asked rohit with a burning intensity to which a quiet , dumbfounded , rohit again nodded. " And , one more thing " , soham again continued , " i have a letter for you in my bag. When all this is over take it out and read it. Whatever you wanted to know about my past is in there ". Rohit quickly asked when soham went quiet , " Why are talking like that , as if you are not going to make it , as if...we will never see you again ".

" There is a good chance that we will never meet again , rohit. The man in there , who has your father , is a dangerous man and he will make sure that i will not live to see tomorrow. But , that's not the matter of concern. Right now , we have to make sure that harish uncle is safe , that you are safe and that even , if possible , i could be safe too. You copy " rohit again nodded sheepishly. " Good , then you , very quietly , make your way towards the back door. I will engage him from the front and , on my signal , strike him a single blow as hard as you could. Remember , only on my signal " soham said with an emphasis to which rohit again quietly nodded before making his way towards the back door. Soham took a deep breath and made his grip on the wooden block even more stronger than before. " This ends today , once and for all " he muttered and made way towards the office.

As soon as he entered the small room , the smell immediately hit him. The pungent smell of gasoline , which came to the nostrils with even more potency because of the small size of the room. Mr harish was strapped to his chair by a load of tape attached to his whole upper body. And , there , on the corner sofa was sitting the man who was responsible for it. On seeing soham he gave a quick smile but it still managed to convey all the maliciousness he had for soham. " Ah ! finally , you are here. After all this time finally i have got to you " he said in an elated voice like an excited child.

Soham took one look at harish uncle , feeling immensely guilty , on seeing him like that. Even his mouth was close shut and only his eyes showed the emotions he were feeling. Soham searched his eyes looking for an any emotion which showed that he was angry at him for getting him into this ruckus. But , there none to be found. His eyes only reflected a calm pride on his seeing the boy he considered as his second son for coming to his rescue. Soham’s eyes darted a little further and he saw rohit quietly opening the back door and entering the room , crouching very carerfully. The back door was hidden by the old almirah and there was no chance that the man could see it open , especially from the position where he was standing. " Let him go , simon. Your quarrel is with me , not with him " soham said , finally darting his eyes towards the man. " Let him go. Do i look like a benevolent man to you. You , of all people , should know my taste for brutality " Simon said with a sadistic grin on his face.

" Yes , i am well aware of that. But , this fight should be between me and you , one on one. There is no need for this man to get hurt over that " soham again pleaded with him for mr harish's safety.

" But , i have heard that this man has welcomed you into his family , that he is like a father to you. That makes hurting him even more poetic " Simon chuckled at that very thought. Hearing that , soham became extremely enraged and he roared , " I assure you if you make even a little wound on this man's body , i will tear you into numerous pieces and feed them to the dogs. You , of all people , should know how hell bent on revenge i can be. Or have you forgotten what i have done to your dear brother? " This time soham gave a befitting reply to all his taunts.

" Not for one second i can forget what you did to my brother. And , believe me , this is payback. Look at the gasoline containers in the corner. A bit ironical , isn't it? " Simon said pointing towards the two containers , each having a hole in them. " I mean " he again continued , " after all , that's how you blew up my brother ".

Soham was now not concentrating on simon's taunts but was eyeing rohit from the corner of his left eye. He was crawling on the ground , slowly making way towards the chair where his father was tied up. " God , don't let him get caught " that was the thought that ran constantly through soham's head.

" Hey , you listening to what i am saying , huh? I think you are not taking this seriously. Let me deal with this old man first " Simon said pulling out the gun and , immediately, shot mr harish in the shoulder. Mr harish gave out a cry , although it came out as a whimper because of the tape on his mouth. Seeing his father getting shot made rohit forget all about the sneak attack he was supposed to do on simon and he yelled ' dad ' , blowing away his cover.

" What...now , who the hell is that? " Simon said looking at rohit with complete surprise. Soham , immediately , jumped on simon and knocked the gun from his hand with a single blow from the wooden block. He then gave him a kick to the chest and knocked him down. " Get out of here. Do it quickly " he shouted to rohit , making a last eye contact with harish uncle. He wanted to apologise to that kind man who had welcomed him into his household , treated him like a son , gave him a glimpse of fatherly love that he had craved for his whole life. But , there was no time for that. He again shouted at rohit who was totally shocked with all the sudden shift of events. " Rohit , come back to your senses. Get your father and yourself out of here. Now ". This time , rohit recovered his senses and quickly wheeled out the chair to which his father was strapped. Seeing them move out of the room was a relief for soham. Atleast , the two of the most kindest people he had known in his life will not die because of his past.

" This is not over. I will get to them somehow , you rascal " simon , who had been pinned down on the ground by soham , shouted and started struggling to break away and in the process delivered a few punches to soham's face. " You killed my brother , you swine , and for that i will destroy your whole world " he again cried like a frenzied animal.

" Yes , i killed your brother. My only regret is that i was not able to finish you that night with him. But , no worries. That dream of mine comes true , today " soham said with a satiated grin and , immediately , started beating simon with the wooden block. " You...hurt...the man who is like....a father to me...and for that....i will send you personally....to hell " Soham shouted while beating simon mercilessly , panting horribly because of the effort.

" Oh ! I know i am going to hell but i am going to make sure that you accompany me there too " Simon laughed like a maniac , coughing up blood from his mouth. Soham increased his pace with each strike beating him to a pulp. Suddenly , simon took out a lighter from his pocket and threw it towards the containers from where the gasoline had been leaking this whole time. " Time for both of us to meet our makers " Simon said with a content grin while the fire immediately started raging and in no time the whole office was aflame.

Just outside the office , rohit had been busy freeing his father from the numerous tapes that had kept him bounded this whole time while they saw the yellow glow of the fire devouring the whole office. " No , soham is in there " rohit started to make a dash inside when his father caught hold of him. " Don't be mad , rohit. You can't go in there " he said to his son sternly. " But...but....soham is in there , dad " rohit said , eyeing his father in a peculiar manner.

" I know. I know..i just...i can't afford to lose you , too " Mr harish broke down crying , thinking about the boy who he had came to regard as his second son and who , at this point , had no doubt would have been burnt to cinder. The flames had by now completely engulfed the room and was emitting out so much smoke that it was impossible for the father and son to stay in its vicinity. " I will call the fire department now. But , first we must need to get away from here " rohit said to his father , although still torn between leaving the spot and he constantly peeked behind in that burning room which had taken the life of his dear friend.

After nearly an hour , the fire department was finally able to bring down the blazing flames but , by this time , most of the shop was already gone. All the neighbours were standing in a crowd and murmuring among themselves , occasionally throwing a few glances towards rohit and his father who were sitting on the footpath on the opposite side of their shop. Fortunately for them , even though the shop was almost gone but their house hadn't been a victim of the fire. " Oh ! To have built this shop from nothing and then seeing it go away to nothing , there's quite a irony hidden in there " Mr harish said with a wry smile on his face looking at the shop without even blinking for one second.

The police were on the scene too , and after the fire was extinguished they had been searching the office for any remains or any clues. Finally , the head inspector walked up to mr harish after conducting the through investigation. " I am terribly sorry about your loss. I can understand what it feels like to see your workplace , one that you have built after such hardwork , go to waste like this " he said with a sympathetic expression.

Mr Harish didn't say anything to that and just glumly nodded. " What about you? Did you find anything in there? " He asked the inspector after a pause , his ears desperate to hear something about soham. Although , he knew in his heart of hearts what that answer would be. " Yeah , we found a body but it is completely mangled and charred. Will not be able to tell who it was without proper investigation. You said earlier a stranger barged into your shop and he was responsible for all this mess , right? "

Suddenly , rohit's ears pricked up and he quickly asked the inspector , " You say , a body. Is that correct ". He almost sounded gleeful when he said that. The inspector was confused on hearing that. " Yeah , what you mean to say , someone else was also in there?. Mr harish quickly interrupted before things got out of hand , " No , i think my son expressed it in the wrong way , sir. There was only one guy who attacked me and got killed in that tussle , although not before destroying my life's work ". The inspector was not convinced entirely , his eyes showed that , but he didn't further pursue the subject.

" Alright , whatever the matter is , i will need you both to come to the station in a few days for some formalities. In the meantime , we will send this body to the forensics team and will try to decipher his identity " he said before adding , " And , i am once again extremely sorry for your tragedy ". Then , he quietly walked away from them.

Rohit , immediately , nudged his father. " Did you hear what he said. They only recovered one body. That means , soham is still alive and had made his escape ". He was almost on the verge of ecstacy and mr harish , at once , told him to dial it down. " I am happy too , son. Happy to know that he is well and alive. But , don't show that happiness now. Atleast , not infront of the police. That will only make them suspicious of us ". Rohit understood what his father meant and again resumed the pitiful expression he had earlier on his face.

Later that night , when all was done and dusted and the police had taken away the body , rohit and his father were quietly having their dinner , each of them lost in their own jungle of thoughts. None of them were interested much in having their dinner and even chewing a little amount of food felt like an immensely laborious task for them. Suddenly , rohit came out of his thoughts , got up , and made a run towards the guest room. The room where soham stayed when he had moved in with them. His father didn't even got any time to understand his sudden burst of energy. He just stared blankly towards the guest room , thinking about soham and how he had first met the young man on that train and how , in a very short span of time , he had become an indispensable part of the family. A second later , rohit emerged from the room with a letter in his hand.

" What's that you got in your hand? " Mr Harish asked him on seeing the letter. Rohit sat down first and started opening it. " Soham told me earlier that he had written a letter for me. But , our day had been so eventful , that i had completely forgotten about it. Until now " he said to his father , with excitement brimming in his eyes to finally read the letter. " Well , go on , then. Read it out aloud " mr harish said finally to his son.

Dear rohit ,

If you are reading this letter , then i am already gone by then. Believe me , i wanted to tell you all of this that i am unfolding in this letter , from my own mouth. But , i was never able to gather the courage to do that. Thing is , my friend , i haven't had a childhood like yours. You had a family , still have a father who loves you and wants to protect you. I had no experience like that.

I grew up in an orphanage in dehradun. With thousands of kids like me who had never known what a benevolent presence a parent can be in your life. The orphanage i grew up in was ran by two brothers by the names of Samuel and Simon , two of the most heinous creatures that god had ever created on this earth. To the outside world , they were businessman and philanthropists. But the orphanage was just a cover for their vile acts. In its cover , they abused vulnerable children , and sometimes selected some of the tougher ones , whose spirits were hard to break , into their gang. I am ashamed to say this , but i mostly belonged to the later category. At first , i was abused by them too , both mentally and physically , but i also had some special skills for brutality. And , when these two brothers saw that , they took me under their wing and taught me all sorts of repugnant stuff. Stuff , where you only know two things from the time you open your eyes in the morning to the time when you close your eyes in the night , TORTURE and MURDER of people who got a bad rep in their books. I was their formidable henchman and i had done things for them which still haunts me to this day. Believe me , i am no saint and i have a fair share of blood on my hands. But , sometime , some things change you forever. And for me , that moment came when one day i saw the elder one , Samuel , raping an already pregnant woman and then set fire to her afterwards. Her screams still ring in my ears. And , that was the tipping point for me. I had enough of that monstrous life that i led. I figured that i have to leave this darkness and join the light , if i wanted to save my soul. If there is anything called a soul in the first place.

I knew i couldn't go to the police. Half of them were on their payroll and the second reason was maybe i feared that i would myself go to prison if i came out with the confession of my association with them. So , i figured out only one way to end this. Use my particular talent but this time not on an innocent but on a real devil. So , long story short , my brother , i killed him. My only mistake was that i was not able to get to the other brother on that fateful night. As , i burnt samuel alive that night , i also burnt my past in that fire. And , then i took the next train to delhi which was a perfect destination for me. A big city where i can get lost in the crowd. Where the sins of my past would not be able to find me. And , that's when i met your family and your kindly father , bless him , took me under his wing. He , not for once , asked me anything about my past life and gave me both a job and , more than that , the perfect vision of what a family could be.

I wouldn't have written this letter to you at all , rohit , if you hadn't seen my other side , my violent urges which i , so earnestly , try to suppress every waking hour of my life. But , that man beating that dog mercilessly bought back those memories when i was myself abused like that. Abused by tyrants when i was a weakling. So , i resorted to the only way i knew how to resolve a situation like that. But , the shocking expression that was spread over your face , made me realise afterwards how far i may had gone.

I hope this letter is never read by any of you. I want to tell you and your father all about my past from my own mouth. But , this letter is a fall safe , incase my past catches up with me and i don't get the time to again see you both. Tell , harish uncle , that i will be always indebted to him for whatever he had done for me. I had never known my own father but i believe he would have been exactly like harish uncle , a kind and benevolent man who would never hesitate to help a lost soul like me.

And as for you , rohit , you were the brother i never had. You were everything that i had ever wished for in a friend and a brother. I pray to god that none of your eyes ever fall on this letter and we could just live on our lives like a good , happy , family. But , if my past sins ever catch up to me , this letter would be a reminder for you both of who i was really. I was a victim of my circumstances and that made me do horrible things. Sins , for which i make no excuses. But , my real life started when i met you both. So , thank you for that. As i said , you will only be reading this letter if something bad has happened. If it comes to that , i hope to see you both again , someday , in this life or the next. Once again , thank you for everything.

Yours loving

Soham

Finally , when the letter ended , two teardrops fell on it and made its corners wet. And , then rohit folded it and kept it in his pocket. Nobody said anything for a minute and the silence of the room was only broken by the barks of a few stray dogs from outside. Finally , it was mr harish who broke the silence. " He came like a breeze into our lives and went away like a storm , leaving behind a lot of mess. But , wherever he is now , i wish him all the best. A toast to the boy i considered as my second son , may he get all the peace that he deserves and may the sins of his past stops haunting him from this moment onwards " he said raising his glass and looking upwards towards the heavens as if he was directly speaking to god. Rohit , for his part , didn't even knew what to say. The only answers which came from his side were two teardrops gently making their way from his eyes and falling on the ground , cleaning away any dust from that spot.

The train going from Delhi to Mumbai made its way into the platform. The announcement constantly came to everyone's ears , " Passengers going from Delhi to Mumbai can now board the train. It will leave exactly at 12:15 am ". Soham looked at the clock hanging by the stationmaster's office. It showed the time to be 12:10. Only five minutes before the train leaves. In five minutes time , he would be leaving this town. Leaving behind the only family he ever had. But , that was important to do. He can't go back to them now. Atleast , not in the immediate aftermath of this tragedy. The announcement again started telling the passengers to quickly board the train. Soham let out a deep sigh. A sigh of contentment and also of loss. Contentment because the last thing of his past which hunted him till now was gone. Loss because he was leaving behind a life that he rather loved. " One day , " he murmered to himself , " one day , not in the very distant future , i will be back here again. To meet my only family. I just hope that they still remember me and find it in their hearts to forgive me for the grievances that i have caused them. Till then , keep them safe for me , god ". Soham said the first prayer of his life. Then , he quietly got up and made his way towards the train , the announcement bursting through the commotion of the station for one last time.

By Priyangshu Misra