The Journey

I boarded the train at Malta and had the compartment to myself till
Sutli and then a girl got in.The couple who saw her off were probably
her parents; they seemed very anxious about her comfort and the woman
gave the girl detailed instructions as to where to keep her things,when
not to lean out of the windows and how to avoid speaking to strangers.
They said their goodbyes; the train pulled out of the station.The girl
concentrated on settling down comfortably and then looked at me
appraisingly since we were the only two people in the compartment.I
gave her a hesitant smile and when she reciprocated I proceeded to
introduce myself.
"Hello! I'm Shantanu from Kolkata ."
"Hi ! I'm Meghna from Sutli ."
"Your parents stay at Sutli ? "
"Yes ! My Dad's posted here."
"Where does your father work ? "
"He is an engineer in Coal India Ltd.Are you also in service ?"
"No, I'm an architect and I am in business.I was in Mumbai for the past
three months because of a project and am now returning home."
"Oh! how nice for you ! I'm in my final year of graduation and am
returning back after my summer vacations."
"Which college do you study in ?"
"Scottish Church College. "
She then took out a novel from her handbag and settled down to reading
it.

At the next station, Ballipur a young couple boarded our
compartment.They had a lot of luggage and they looked quite
flustered.They heaved a sigh of relief when the train finally pulled
out of the station.Their seat was adjacent to Meghna's and after
sometime they struck up a conversation with her.

"Where are you from ?" asked Mrs Kumar
"Malti" replied Meghna smiling back.
"Are you travelling alone ?"
"Yes"
"Where are you going ?"
"Kolkata"
"Oh! We are also headed there.Do you have relatives staying there
?"
"No I'm in college"
"What are you studying ?"
"I'm in my Final year of Graduation "
"That's nice.Which subject ?"
"English"
By overhearing their conversation I learnt that Meghna had topped in
her University and was supposed to get married after her exams.However
I could not help noticing that wheneverMeghna asked the Kumars any
personal questions they gave very vague answers.

After lunch Meghna sat down with her novel again and the Kumars decided
to take a little nap .I followed Meghna's example.After the hustle and
bustle since morning time, everything was very quiet all of a sudden.At
4.30 pm our train stopped at the next station, Maine and the passengers
were happy to get down on the station to stretch their legs and have
tea.

At dinnertime I found the Kumars insisting that Meghna should share
their home cooked dinner with them. We were supposed to reach our
destination early the next morning and I fervently hoped that the train
would not be late as I prepared to settle down for the night.I woke up
at 6.00am the next morning and was glad to know that the train was
running only half an hour late,that meant we would reach our
destination in another 45 mins.The Kumars were also up and getting
ready but Meghna was surprisingly still asleep.I was thinking of waking
her when I saw Mrs Kumar wake her.She sat up groggily and stood up but
sat down again immediately and complained that she felt dizzy.The
Kumars helped her to get her things together.When the train stopped the
Kumars got down and they also helped Meghna down,who was not quite
steady on her feet.I wished her the best and bade her goodbye before I
made my way out of the station.

I hardly spared Meghna any more thought and was happy to be back home
after a gruelling three months.After a day I was shocked to find an
article in the newspaper that a young girl had been found murdered at
Kolkata station and attached to it was a small photograph and to my
further shock I reognised it to be Meghna's. I could not believe my
eyes and could not fathom how such a thing could have happened ......
she had seemed so happy on the train.Unfortunately to my disappointment
no details were given and all that I learnt was her decomposed body had
been recovered from one of the rest rooms in the station reserved for
railway personnel.The vendors there had alerted the railway authorities
about the stench coming from the room and the door had been broken open
to discover Meghna's body.On investigating all that the police had been
able to gather was that 2 days ago a man had carried a half -conscious
girl into the room and had locked the door from outside and had
requested a nearby tea-seller for some milk saying he needed it for his
sister who was unwell.It was also reported that investigation regarding
the girl's mysterious murder was on.

After a week I found another article in the newspaper which said that
the investigation had revealed that Mr Kumar had carried half conscious
Meghna into the room and had locked her up and gone away.Then he had
returned and had raped her and then had tried to force her into
prostitution. He had even sold her to a pimp . When Meghna refused to
cooperate he had threatened her with a gun but she had not backed down,
instead she had tried to wrest the gun from Mr Kumar and while they
were struggling the gun had accidentally gone off killing her
instantly.The police had arrested the Kumars and it was also revealed
that both the culprits were involved with a criminal gang that
specialised in forcing unsuspecting girls into prostitution and were
also involved in trading of girls. They had found Meghna to be an easy
target since she was travelling all by herself.

I mourned the loss of an innocent life.I could not help remembering her
infectious smile, her vivacity......