My brother and I had planned a trip to Kolkata for the
weekend. We would be staying at our cousin’s place whose address I happened to
have in an sms. We took one of those Volvos shuttling daily between Bhubaneswar
and Kolkata. Plan was: we reach at 6 hours in the morning, call our cousin, he
picks us from the bus stand. But the driver had probably smoked more marijuana
than usual, so he got excited and we reached Kolkata at 3 hours in the morning.
It was the weekend so obviously my hardworking-software-engineer-cousin was in
deep slumber trying to get his body clock right, hence failed to answer our
calls. We found few taxis, but they blatantly said “NO”, as I tried reading the
sms out to them. I woke them up at 3 in the morning so they avenged it by giving
a sadistic grin after saying no. Then we met this taxiwalla(excellent
multi-tasker), who kept yawning and rubbing his eyes trying to erase it off his
face while scratching his potbelly vigorously. I told him the address (almost
remembered it after narrating it so many times), and he shook his head in
approval while also making an attempt to crack his neck bones, multi-tasking at
its best.
We hurled our backpacks through the window to the backseat
and got into the yellow submarine. I hate being tricked so I kept tracking my
location through GPS. I was relieved that he was taking the right direction, so
I let go of my phone, partly to conserve charge and partly to get lost in the
awesome night portrait of the city. No matter what time of the year it is, morning
4O’clock is always cool and refreshing. I observed people sleeping in dim
corners of the street. Even stray dogs were inactive during this hour, tired
after chasing numerous cars and barking at them without knowing why. Several
people who worked early had woken up and were brushing their teeth near a
public tap. The sky looked deep blue like an ocean illuminated with a bright
light source in the corner. Even in the empty street the taxi driver didn’t fail
to demonstrate his driving prowess, cutting through lanes and nearly-missing
light posts, either he had a nature’s call to attend or he wanted to break his
previous time record. We sped through contrasting locations, clean, showroom
lined urban areas to old dilapidated housing complexes and ghettos. Kolkata is
an extremely populated city. The surplus population adds to the chaos and raucousness.
It is called “The city of Joy”. What I saw was a sleeping Kolkata, painted in
Blue and yellow. Waiting for people to wake up and set its life into motion. There
was no other sound apart from the roaring of the submarine. I imagined how
things would be different in a couple of hours, the streets busy with people
jogging to work, the old trams going up and down the street. The street lined
with hawkers, offering a wide range of products ranging from strawberries to
leather belts at unimaginable prices. The air filled with everyday noises and
the hawkers shrieking their offers, desperately trying to grab the attention of
a potential customer. We crossed many traffic posts, yellow lights blinking in
unison. Had it been the day we would have had to wait in the breeze less heat
for hours to get past so many of them.
My imagination ceased its free reign when we halted. The
multi-tasker had pulled over the car on the sideway opposite a goliath
building. The steel plate read “Infinity Mall”. I admired my deduction skills
and waited for the driver to get out and take his much needed leak. But it was
not the case, i was not Sherlock Holmes. He said, “Yehi hai!” with a hint of
anger for consuming his precious time and not getting down. Whether he was
sleepy or I was sleepy it was difficult to comprehend. Still i could not
imagine how I had enunciated “GreenField Heights” as “Infinity Mall”. My
brother having a bad temper started the routine argument. I grabbed my phone
and refreshed my location. The blue dot started blinking opposite Infinity
Mall. However, my destination was not showing in the near proximity. After
reloading the map the navigator showed 21kms to GreenField Heights. I showed
the driver the phone and said “Mujhe Yahan Jaana Hai”. After few seconds of
observation he retorted back “Toh PehleBolna Tha Na!” I felt loss of words. I
felt the need to rest my back and exhale a few deep breaths. My brother had
completely lost his head, so i could not sit back. I told the taxi driver, that
i will guide you to the place. He asked for my phone and i showed him the
location. He made a mental map and said he will take us there (without my
stupid phone guiding him). This time I did not blink, i kept staring at the
blue dot with hypnotizing concentration. Halfway through the journey, Google
maps and Multi-tasker were in harmony. After a turn, they mismatched
completely. I immediately plunged forward to point this out. The driver gave me
a condescending look and continued driving. This is when my negative instincts
started juggling my head.
My mother is a daily watcher of crime patrol. When I sit
with her she keeps telling me these horrible stories, about people killing each
other for mundane things and quarrels over trifles. I don’t blame her. Research
has proved that we are prone to like negative news more than positive ones. I
resisted hearing them initially but then I fell for it. It was more interesting
than mainstream news anyways. I started scripting what would be our story. I
made a rough estimate of my net worth (organs excluded). I was confused between
being a hero who fights till death and an aam aadmi who begs to live and submits
to his atrocity. We halted again. There was another yellow taxi parked ahead.
From the rear I could see the silhouette of the driver who was smoking with his
elbows stretched out of the driver window. Our driver walked towards him. This
guy is his accomplice, his partner in crime, i thought. Maybe they are
discussing what should be done with us. Maybe he is enquiring whether the safe
house where all the operations were done is vacant or engaged. After a one
minute talk the other driver gesticulated something, couldn’t observe clearly
but our driver shook his head in approval and confirmation. We drove away
taking the adjacent left turn. This area was dark, but thankfully it was almost
daybreak and the deep blue sky now seemed diluted. “Bhaiya, hum kahan jaa rahe
hain?” I enquired, keeping my voice firm. “wahin, jahaan aap jaana chahte
hain”, he replied, his voice low and clam.
After a ten minute drive we entered an urban estate. The
massive gate had steel alphabets riveted to the wooden frame. It Read “Green
Field Heights”. And I felt all the adrenaline go into my urinary bladder. We
got down and it was payment time. He did not charge anything substantial nor
did he argue much. As we started walking towards my cousin’s apartment I
laughed, for being so cynical and judgemental. I laugh as to how horrible
stories of a mere minority can make our imaginations go wild. I thanked god for
allowing me to keep both of my kidneys, my phone and my iPod. We say that our
biggest enemies are Corruption, poverty, illiteracy. But I feel our biggest
enemy is Cynicism.
