Idea

The Bombay Mail starts from Calcutta. After traveling for three days
it reaches Bombay city at dawn. Bombay is the commercial capital of
India. It is also the city from which the Hindi film industry operates.
More jobs are available here than anywhere else in India. The city had
been built by reclaiming land between some seven islands. But as more
people keep coming and meet with varying degrees of success Bombay
keeps expanding. Bombay is indeed another name for success in India.
And the Bombay Mail that covers the entire length of India east to west
brings to the city many hopefuls with stars in their eyes. All of them
believe that they will find their pot of gold in this city of dreams.
No matter what the reality is every Indian believes that he will be
rich once he sets foot in Bombay.
Rocky is from Data, an industrial city in the east. It is his dream to
become a pilot. With much effort and lot of expense he has acquired a
commercial pilot's license. He is going to Bombay because all the
airlines have their offices there. He has a cousin who is in the film
industry in Bombay and expects to stay with him. Billy is from a small
town called Katni. He is good-looking and talks smooth. He hopes to get
a break in films in Bombay. He used to live with an uncle in his
hometown. He has stolen all the cash his uncle kept at home to pay for
his trip. He knows no one in Bombay and has no idea where he will stay
in that city. Tom is from Royport a provincial capital in central
India. His father is in the civil service. He has just finished college
and wants to see the world. He wants to start his travels in Bombay
from where you can fly to any big global city. Tom is an expert at
dealing cards. He claims to have never lost a game of poker. Dino is
from Calcutta. His girlfriend studies medicine in Bombay. He misses her
a lot. He is going to Bombay to ask her to marry him. He is a
cricketer.
These four people-Rocky, Billy, Tom and Dino were all traveling on the
Bombay Mail. In fact they had been allotted berths adjacent to each
other. Tom initiated conversation as he began a game of poker. One by
one the others joined. They did not play for money but just to pass
time. Of course Tom won all the time. They shared their food and their
life-stories. It was decided that the four of them would stay together
with Rocky's cousin. From the letters this cousin had written Rocky
knew that he lived in a four storey mansion.
Hard luck. It turned out that Rocky's cousin was in the film industry
all right. But he was a top actor's chauffeur and lived in his garage.
But the cousin was a resourceful person. He introduced the gang of four
to a person who could find them accommodation. A huge apartment block
was being erected next door and the four friends were allowed to stay
on the top floor. For a price of course. And thus began their stay in
Bombay. The pilots were on strike due to which Rocky was asked to come
later. Billy was told that the film producers would grant him audience
only after a year. Dino's girlfriend clearly told him that she was
seeing a marine engineer and was no longer interested in him. In three
days the four friends found that they had nothing to do. They decided
to see Bombay city. They visited the discos and lounge bars. Then
someone told them about Card City. This was a club where they could
gamble. They were short of cash and Tom was raring to go. He won a
thousand pounds initially. Then the owner invited him to a game. Again,
Tom won ten thousand pounds. Then he began to lose. By the end of the
evening he owed Card City one hundred thousand pounds. He and his
friends were told that he would have to pay in a week. Failing this all
of them would be killed.
The boys did not know what to do. They had lost all the money they had
to Card City. They knew no one in Bombay who could lend them a hundred
thousand pounds. Billy was reading the day's newspaper when he suddenly
shouted, 'Idea!' He pointed to the picture of a thin, sick-looking man
at the bottom of a page. He was called Curry Small. It was not clear
why his picture had been printed. Nevertheless Billy suggested that
they could kidnap someone like Curry Small and then ask for ransom.
With the ransom money they could pay off their debts. They all laughed
at the idea-including Billy.
That evening the four boys were sitting on a nearby beach. Suddenly
they saw someone running towards them. It was dark and the man's face
was not visible. The man stopped near them and said, 'Please hide me.'
He was short, very short and thin. The boys looked at each other and
smiled. Then they took off their shirts. The man was asked to lie down
and the clothes placed over him. Then they began to wrestle with each
other. After a while about twenty men and women approached the group
with guns in their hands. When they saw the boys fighting they smiled
and moved forward. After a while they came back. Two cars appeared from
nowhere. The armed people climbed into the cars and drove off.
The man whom the boys helped was Curry Small himself. He was the most
feared man in Bombay city. He thanked the boys for saving his life and
politely asked Card City to stop bothering them. The boys were now free
to go home.