Asked to Leave

by Krishna D Bhatt

  ***

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The 36 Hours Of Nightmare

  September 13th 2010, ISBT Anand Vihar, New Delhi

  Steps towards the haunting world,

  It was the gap post completing the training at the vendor’s place, and training in company; we were handed over to D*ksh training team, on ‘Bench’ for the time and were supposed to report to Mr. George, another decent professional.

  We were asked to join office after 3 weeks, and I was missing my family, especially my mother. Suddenly, I made a plan to go home, and withdrew approx Rs.60,000 from my brother’s bank account and took a metro to the ISBT Anand Vihar Bus Terminal.

  “Namaste Bhai Ji” After staring at me, which I noticed, he asked for my destination.

  “I am going to Baitadi; I have to travel about 50-60 KM towards Mahakali River there.”

  The bus blew its horn aloud and started plying towards Ghaziabad, leaving the capital city of India. The distance between the source and destination was decreasing and my heart beats were pumping up with excitement to meet everyone at home.

  “I work at a gas station called Indian Oil Petrol Pump at Badarpur.” That guy looked innocent and began telling me his ‘so called sad story and struggle in his life’ and forced me to chit-chat with him.

  He kept on narrating his fake story; I kept on blessing him.

  “Want to have some water?” After opening a bottle, he asked. It was my death certificate where he was asking me to sign, and I was thinking about the way to make youth healthy, happy and financially free.

  I had a couple of sips. As a result, I felt something weird, with dizziness in my head, I felt a wave of nausea and I slept. He thought that I had gone to sleep forever and his operation was successful. I didn’t know where I was. Someone in the bus silently went ahead and fed poison mixed water in a sealed pack water bottle? It was an unanswered question, as I was not alive that night, family and friends were also not aware what went wrong with me.

  After a day of the accident, Gurgaon India.

  “Hello, my name is Aana from D*ksh emergency helpline. How may I help you?” Receptionist said after getting a call on the helpline.

  “Madam, I am a bus driver from the Uttarakhand Roadways, I have a passenger named Ram Prasad, in an unconscious state. I am rushing him to the hospital. I got your number from his employee card of D*ksh, let his family members know his state.” The driver, another life-saver was driving towards the hospital and the conductor, the brother; the life saver was supporting and massaging my head. They were benevolent enough to help me.

  “Okay, could you please give us his employee ID?”

  “Yes, it is Temp.15405.” The driver gave the phone to the conductor and he conveyed my employee ID to her.

  “Okay Bhai ji, thank you, he is our employee, please help him.” Receptionist said.

  “We will take care of him. Please inform his family members as soon as possible and send them to Tanakpur Health Centre in Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand. Because we are govt. employees and have to return to Delhi this evening.” The conductor said.

  “Hi George, I am from D*ksh Emergency helpdesk, one of your teammates Mr. Ram Prasad had been a victim of an unknown poisoning on the way to Uttarakhan

  d, we just got a call from the bus staff.” Receptionist said.

  “Is he out of danger? What is his current position?” George asked.’

  “He is unconscious for the past 10-12 hours, vomited in the bus, not opening his eyes.” Receptionist let the trainer know.

  George called Tarun and asked “Hi Tarun, Have you seen Ram Prasad’s house? Can you go to his house, and let his family members know that he has been hospitalised?”

  “I haven’t seen it, but I will find it out. Please help me get his address.” Tarun said.

  “House Number # 1185, Sector 15 Gurgaon.” He took the address from George, took Omkar Nautiyal along and rushed to inform his family.

  “Could you show us House no. 1185 in Sector-15 Part Two?” Tarun and Omkar came to see my house and asked the laundry guy.

  “It is right there. But nobody stays at home in the day time as all of them are working. He has gone to his home town, what is the matter by the way?” He asked.

  “He had been hospitalised as he was unwell, we got a call on the emergency number this morning. Someone from his family needs to go there and take him home.” Omkar said.

  “His brother works in a Maruti Suzuki outlet in Old Delhi Road.” The laundryman guided them.

  It was almost 2 PM in the afternoon; his brother was having Lunch in the office.

  “Good afternoon Padam, there are two people out here who want to meet you. They say they are from Ram’s office D*ksh. Should I send them in or you want to come out and talk to them.” Security Guard of the showroom said.

  Brother rushed towards the main gate and understood the story. He went to the bus station, took the bus to Tanakpur from Gurgaon bus stand immediately. He did not get a seat to sit; so he travelled standing the entire night, cursing me and sometimes fate.

  After 2 nights and a day, Tanakpur Health Centre, Uttarakhand

  “He is running here and there, I think he has gained his conscience.” A caretaker asked the nurse on duty.

  “I think he will survive, thank God; let’s go.” The life-saver nurse ran towards the ward.

  “Hello” the nurse called me and tried to know my mental state.

  “I said something, but what ‘thing’ I had said, neither I knew, nor did she know.”

  It was like an awakening for me from a deep hibernation. I found some amount of stool out in my pant with dry spots of vomit still visible on my green-coloured T-shirt. I saw Padam Bhai in front of me, and I kept on admiring him.

  “When can I take him along? Is he serious or better?” Padam asked the doctor.

  “Well, fortunately he is out of danger, in fact he is far better, and will slowly get his memory back. For a couple of years, he will suffer from short term memory loss, you may take him along after an observation of couple of days and we are thankful to the bus staff, who brought him here, otherwise you never know, something worse could have happened. It’s happening frequently these days, especially on the Delhi-Banbasa route. He was such an innocent man; we saw his identity card, he works for an international MNC and we were shocked to know that the poison gang must have targeted him.” Doctor said.

  “He thinks everyone in this world is beautiful, caring and kind-hearted human being. I had cautioned him not to befriend just anyone; but who cares, nowadays it is a trend for youngsters to make friends, the one who tried to kill him this time must be one of his friends.” My brother was deeply hurt and utterly disappointed.

  Some words from the conversation between them reached my ears and disappeared without reaching my brain. They had said that the policemen, who had come to take my statement, also had to leave their job incomplete. I didn’t know what I had told them, I was in the complete oblivion away from the world of reality.

  “I have prescribed some medicines, you can get them from Khatima market or Banbasa market, make sure you give him these tablets within 2 hours. And he can leave now, he is better and responding to the questions asked to him, so we have decided to discharge him from the hospital.” The doctor gave the discharge slip to Padam and asked him to take me along.

  It was raining outside when we started climbing down. After seeing me faltering, Padam hired a rickshaw and we reached the Tanakpur Bus Station.

  “Where are we going brother?” I asked him.

  “We have to go back to Delhi. If needed, we can get you admitted, and you barely have 4 days to join your office. Your colleagues had informed me about this, I have not even taken a sip of water since then.”

  I knew what went wrong, and he also knew that there was no solution to what had already happened. I wa
s trying to come out of that nightmare, which had taken off my dreams of seeing my family and hometown, snatched my hard-earned money for a year, almost taken my life away. I was seeking for an emotional fulcrum, care and mercy from my family for which my brother was catering very well.

  “Don’t say anything about this accident to anyone at home. Else, they all, especially mother, will get worried. You know how weak she has become emotionally, after our father’s demise.” My brother told me, while having lunch at Banbasa bazaar.

  “Hmm!” I nodded.

  I realised that I had lost both of my mobile phones, wallet along with photographs of my parents, beloved girlfriend, driving license, voter’s ID card, cash and a few visiting cards. Everything was blur and lost.

  ***

  CHAPTER SIX

  Helpless Law And An

  Appeal For Justice

  September 16th 2010, Anand Vihar Police Station, New Delhi, India

  “Hello Ram, we are from an investigation agency, the Uttarakhand Police had reported the unknown poisoning case to us a few days back and we want to ask you what exactly happened that night. Can you meet us this Sunday?” One officer called on my number and asked for an appointment.

  “I am in Gurgaon now and my office is also here. So, I don’t think I will be able to meet you.” I said standing outside the Anand Vihar Police Station. I was avoiding them; as I was still scared and not sure who was calling me, the night of September 13th had taken almost everything from me. I was not in a position to take any future risks with my life. Otherwise, I would not have an answer to my mother’s tears.

  “No problem Ram, you can tell us over the phone as well. We and our team will work hard to find them and arrest them; if you can give us some clue. We don’t want any more passengers to become the victims of similar wicked acts.” He said.

  I was afraid yet thanking God for saving me, thanking everyone who had helped me during that nightmare, the bus staff from Uttarakhand Transport Corporation, the staff of Tanakpur Health centre and my office staff. I was also thinking about the goodness of that bad guy, who didn’t (or couldn’t) kill me; and left me unconscious to survive.

  “Have you filed an FIR with the Police?” He asked.

  “I was not able to think about all that when we were returning to Delhi, my brother had been advised to log an FIR with Delhi Police.”

  “Ok. Thank you for narrating the robbers looks; we have drawn a sketch. We will get in touch with you in future for any further details.” He disconnected the call.

  “Ma’am Namaste! I want to register a complaint.”

  “What do you want to file a complaint for?” The young lady asked with a high pitch voice, which scared me.

  I thought, “If I don’t tell them my concern, they will arrest me and take me to custody and will ask me weird questions. It is better I tell them what happened.”

  “Tell me what is it regarding first?” The lady, along with a gentleman yelled.

  “There is nothing Delhi Police can help you with. It did not happen in Delhi and we are not responsible about it.” She said post listening to my story. I was silently begging for mercy and sympathy; and asking for justice.

  “Then which state’s police will register this complaint?” I asked her. I saw the man smoking the 500 series Beedi in the police station. I had a choice to ignore him and so I did.

  “Uttarakhand Police, if not Uttar Pradesh Police.” She said.

  “But they said they wouldn’t be able to register an FIR; as the incident did not occur in their state.” I asked her to find a solution.

  “You were fine when you left Delhi, weren’t you?” She asked me in anger and ridicule. The atmosphere was hot, may be because of the smoke. The one who left me to die was fortunate as he was under the blue sky and I was begging for justice in the Police station, mortgaging my self-respect and dignity.

  “Who will help me to find that person then? Tomorrow, another Ram will come to your desk with the same complaint. And some day, a newspaper will come to your desk mentioning that someone from your family has been a victim to the same poisoning.” I could not complete my statement.

  “My family members will not eat poison if someone offers it to them. It’s your mistake. Now go somewhere else and get your complaint registered. We are not a charity NGO, it’s a police station. So, behave and get lost.” I still remember her big eyes.

  I went out of the Police Station; I thought I should talk to my brother who was an assistant to Additional DGP- Uttarakhand, posted in Dehradun. But neither had I even an ounce of courage left to struggle nor did I have any further hope.

  After getting kicked out, I had promised myself that one day I will raise voice to help innocent people like me, make them aware against such criminals; who hurt others and celebrate with the stolen, snatched money and also urge everyone to think about other’s happiness before hurting anyone. Because they have wonderful families, friends, dreams, expectations, hope and love. This planet Earth will be like a beautiful garden for every living being; if we care for each other, love each other, respect each other, irrespective of the aspect whether that individual is penniless or a millionaire, a human or an insect, struggling for its life. The point of time, we think we have to die one day or might die today; we will end up doing something good, that evening will bring us a lot of happiness. If it happens we don’t need to appeal for justice, we don’t need to let a policeman yell at you.

  ***

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The Scary Beginning Of

  The Dream Job

  September 18th 2010, D*ksh 444 Building, Gurgaon, India

  The Monday evening was awesome; life was slowly coming back on track. I was on the way to the office as people from corporate sector were going home. The Sun yawning and setting in west horizon was also going home to rest, turning red every second like a maturing orange. I had to travel to office on my own, as I had opted for self travel. This had its advantages and disadvantages. But it was my decision to opt for it; it was my first day in the office and I reached Shankar Chowk at 8:00 PM, thinking about the family members in village, who must had been asleep by then.

  I stopped an auto rickshaw and asked “Bhai Ji, could you please drop me to 444 building, Udyog Vihar?”

  “Yes sir, sure.” He asked me to settle down and within the next minute we had started leaving people behind, who were walking and cycling.

  “There you go.” The auto rickshaw stopped and the driver asked for the money.

  “How much?” I asked.

  “Only fifty rupees.” He said with a smile on his face.

  “Happy?” He was offering me a price to bargain, so, I gave him forty and asked if he wanted more.

  “Okay sir, thank you.” He said and got vanished within a few seconds.

  “New Joinee?” Security guard of group5 security asked at the main gate.

  “Yes, I am.” I asked him for the way. After wearing a visiting card, I started following him.

  “Take a lift from here and go to the 2nd floor. For more help you may call your trainer.” He suggested.

  “Thank you.” I said.

  “Hi Sir, good evening. How are you?” I greeted Mr. Manish Abuja when I saw him in the cafeteria ordering a cup of coffee.

  “Oh Hi, how are you?”

  “I am doing great sir.” I said.

  “Join me for coffee.” He insisted.

  “Bhai Ji, one more coffee please.” He ordered for anther cup of coffee, perhaps for me.

  “Sure sir.” The sales person at coffee stall looked at me and gave me a courteous smile and started preparing one more cup of coffee.

  We took our respective cups, sat on our seats and looked at each other.

  “So, how is your first day so far?” He asked.

  “Good sir. So far so good.” I said.

  “Feel free t
o approach me, if you face any challenges working here. I will do my best to help get things sorted for you.” He assured me.

  “We had got an email from the corporate communications team that you were hospitalised and you needed some medical care. What had happened?”

  I narrated the complete episode. His face turned red and reflected feelings of deep sorrow, distress and anger.

  “I am very sorry to know about this incident. Haven’t you filed a police complaint against those rascals? They could have taken your life.” He was sad and angry.

  “I am going tomorrow to file a complaint; I am recovering and feeling better day by day.”

  “Hi Ram! How are you?” George had joined us.

  “I am fine, thank you for everything.” I said.

  “Ok Ram! I will see you later. I need to go. Excuse Me!” Manish said and went towards the elevators as George went to get some snacks for himself.

  By that time some more folks had joined us who were talking among themselves. I had nothing to do with their political views and lifestyle; unless I heard them talking about me and that incident. Then I started listening to the murmuring voices coming from them.

  “He is innocent and he speaks less.” A voice was heard once a girl initiated the conversation relating to that incident.

  “I think he is gay.” I was listening to them using the ‘G’ word so easily without even knowing the fact about that incident. The notebook fell from my hand along with a pencil, pretending that I was studying.

  I stood up and went to the washroom. I found myself alone there. I looked into the mirror and recalled the past 10-15 years, childhood memories started haunting me and I went blank, I don’t know for how long. I found tears coming out of my eyes.

  There was no one to motivate me; it was just my reflection, which was looking at me, persuading me to wake up, fight, and prove myself. Suddenly, someone entered the washroom; my time of peace was over. I came back to the same seat where I was sitting and they were talking about me. After all, they were born with a silver spoon as they say and my father was farmer his entire life. I was in the place where the sons’ and daughters’ of their so called ‘millionaire parents’ were.