Olive

This is a true incident. I do not know who I saw, but I saw the person described, doing what I describe. Believe it or not.

~ Ashesh/The Bilge Master

Ten ‘o clock at night. My father was going to kill me if he ever found out. But then again, time flies when you’re teaching someone like Rudan English.

So there I was on the platform of Mahanayak trying to snag a train back to Sherwood. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and ended up on a train bound for Kalighat. I realised my error one station down at Rabindra Sarobar. I got off and frantically looked at the large LED lit clock on the platform. 10:07. Next train at 10:11. Dash it all!

I wandered over to the correct line this time. There were a knot of people there, mainly office goers who were heading back after a long day’s work. I smelled stale deodorant and hastily smoked cigarettes on a few of them. The women had smudged make up and they all just wanted to go home and take a shower.  I wanted to go home and take a shower. Teaching Rudan tense was tiring but fun.

The clock read 10:09. That’s when I glimpsed a man at the far corner of the platform. He was dressed in an olive green shirt, black trousers and looked to be about 42. It seemed he was waiting to board the train. I did not pay him much heed.

10:11. The train was pulling in. I glanced at it and saw something. The man I described earlier walking to meet it, on the live high voltage line. How this was possible I do not know. No one else seemed to have noticed it. I got shoved on to the train and managed to get a spot next to the window.

My last memory was this man in the olive shirt waving goodbye at me as the train pulled away.