Sense Of An Ending

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.