The Jugni

by Gagan Saini

  The last compartment started separating from the rest of the train. At the same time, the baby was coming out. The husband held the hand of the wife in pain, strongly.

  The nurse was doing her best to conduct the delivery with whatever she had got. Simar remained on the phone with lady passenger to know what was going on.

  “What is happening back there? Is the carriage separated? Is everyone out from that carriage?”

  The lady replied, “Yes Simar, the man has just come back let me ask what happened back there.”

  “What is the situation?”

  “Yes, I was able to detach the carriage.” He replied while catching his breath.

  “Yes Simar, it is done.”

  “Okay, ask everyone to hold on to anything they find.”

  As it was a conference call, whoever was in contact with Simar, yelled out loud to everyone to hold on and be ready for an impact. The nurse in the first compartment had a new problem. The baby was out but she did not have anything to cut the umbilical cord. She searched the purse with blood loaded hands quickly. She found a nail cutter. She was thorough in nursing to practice such procedures with utmost sterilization. But here she wasn’t concerned about any infection. She took out a small knife from the nail cutter and cut the umbilical cord with it.

  The last carriage was separated from the rest of the train and it was slowing down. It separated a few meters only and the bomb exploded. It happened at the same time when the nurse cut the cord of the baby.

  Although the last compartment was separated from the rest of the train, the explosion had a significant impact on the whole train. The train derailed and tilted on one side suddenly. There were screams and cries everywhere. The momentum of the train wasn’t letting the train to stop. People banged into each other and with the walls and windows of the train. The window glass broke and caused injuries to many people. The derailed train rolled to one side. The baby slipped from the slippery hands of the nurse and got tossed in the air. The baby was about to hit the window on the opposite side.

  The mother and father watched their just born baby as if he or she was going to hit the window. Father’s eyes left wide open with shock.

  Mother tried to reach out for the baby with all her leftover strength, but she could hardly move. Time was super slow as she saw her baby approaching the window.

  At that moment, the parents were short of death by a few inches, not by the impact of the explosion but by the feeling of watching their baby dying. The baby was close to the window and was about to hit. Simar flew between the baby and window from nowhere. She caught the baby right on time. She held tight the baby with both her arms and pressed against her chest. At the same moment, her back hit the window and broke the glass. She did not fell out due to some iron bars outside the window.

  The mother went unconscious. Father was watching all this with his eyes still wide open as if his eyes forgot to blink. The impact was so hard that Simar lost her consciousness, but she did not lose the grip of the crying baby.

  Eventually, the train stopped after sliding on the ground. People in the train suffered from medium to major injuries. As the train tipped over to the side, people were trying to get out from the windows and emergency exits. Emergency services rushed to the site. The injured were transferred to hospitals.

  The father of the baby crawled to Simar and wanted to see the baby. The baby was crying, this gave the father lots of relief. He looked at unconscious Simar holding his baby. His gratitude filled eyes started crying. He tried to unfold the arms of Simar to release the baby. He did this with a little struggle because Simar held the baby tightly.

  By this time, the emergency staff reached them. They helped all the passengers. Zahid also rushed to the crash site, he looked for Simar desperately. He went to the first compartment straightaway. He helped the ambulance staff to pull out a few people from the train. He looked around and did not see Simar. He jumped in. There were a few people left, he wanted to help but he had not found Simar. He moved forward by hanging to the rods and jumping over the seats. He heard a man’s voice from one side.

  It was the father of the newborn baby. “I need help over here please.”

  Zahid said, “Sir, stay where you are, we are helping everybody. You will get help soon.” Then he continued the search for Simar.

  “I don’t need help for myself. Save this girl who saved all of us.”

  That word rang a bell in Zahid’s mind. He moved to the spot with double the speed.

  He saw Simar unconscious with blood on her face, arms and she held a baby. The man was struck underneath the seats and was trying to release the baby with any force he had.

  “Simar, Simar, are you alright? Talk to me, Simar.”

  There was no answer from her. He shouted at the top of his voice and called the ambulance staff. They came and took Simar and the rest of the passengers out. She was taken to hospital in an ambulance. Zahid sat beside her stretcher. He kept on trying to wake her up until the ambulance staff asked him to stop. The doctors attended her straight away.

  After a couple of minutes, one doctor told him that she did not sustain any life-threatening injury. The head-strike caused unconsciousness. Apart from a couple of minor fractures here and there and some cuts and bruises, there was nothing to worry about. He was relieved to hear that. He informed Mr. Sinha before he went in to see Simar.

  The plan of terrorists was demolished. The leader was back in jail. All but one terrorist was killed, he was arrested. It was a big relief for the authorities and the general public. Media was covering everything now. Simar was on all TV channels. She was not only a national hero, but the world media noticed her. Many passengers gave interviews and described the heroic act of Simar and how she saved their lives. Everybody was talking about her, hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital to wish her well. Police had to do special security arrangements to control the mob.

  In the hospital, Zahid sat next to her bed waiting for her to gain consciousness. Simar had a sling tied around her neck giving support to her fractured left arm and had a bandage on the forehead. She opened her eyes eventually.

  “Is that baby alright?”

  “Yes, the baby is perfectly alright, and that couple is waiting outside to see you. How are you feeling?”

  “What about the passengers on the train?”

  “You did a great job. Many got injured, but they are all alive. Thanks to you.”

  Then he pulled out a mobile phone from the pocket and gave it to Simar, “Talk to your mom, she is worried about you.”

  She dialed the number. “Hello mom, how are you?”

  Her mother said, “Forget about me, just tell me about you. I saw everything on TV. I was so worried about you.”

  “Mom, do you think something could happen to me? Your blessings are always protecting me.”

  “You are my brave girl and I am proud of you, you saved so many lives.”

  Simar smiled. Now Jaspal took the phone and asked, “Why did you do it alone. You should have called me.”

  Simar laughed, “I know big brother you would come, but it wasn’t a big problem, I could handle it”.

  “How many did you kill?”

  “Oh, I forgot to count.” Both laughed.

  “That’s like my sister. We are coming to see you.” After some talk, he asked Simar to have some rest and hung up the phone.

  Zahid went out and sent that couple in. The couple had great gratitude in their eyes. The lady held the baby. Simar smiled and lifted her right arm as if she wanted to hold the baby. Mother gave the baby to Simar.

  “It’s a girl”, the mother said.

  “She is so cute.”

  Simar looked at her and smiled. The baby was sleeping. She kissed her on the forehead.

  Now the father started talking. “My name is Siddarth and this is my wife Ana. We hav
e been married for so many years but never had a baby. After so many treatments she became pregnant. It was like an endless joy for us. It was just a matter of chance that we were in that metro. We were not expecting her to deliver because it’s been only eight months. Perhaps panic induced the labor.” Simar was listening to him quietly.

  “When the baby was in the air that was the moment I thought I am going to die. My wife couldn’t see that she fainted. I was watching the baby getting closer to hitting the window. I was stunned and could not move, I did not know what to do. A thought came to my mind that that’s the end of the life of that little baby and my wife. And without my wife and baby, I wouldn’t live as well. But you came to rescue from nowhere. You saved my baby and us.” Both the husband and the wife could not stop themselves from bursting into tears.

  He said, “You are nothing less than a God for us. From now on, our life is yours because you saved it. You now got friends who will stand by you no matter what happens.”

  Simar said, “I just did what I thought was the right thing to do at that time. But I am happy to find friends like you, more importantly, the baby is safe.”

  Ana said, “Well, as you get well, please come to our place for dinner.”

  “Sure, Thanks.”

  They exchanged their phone numbers. Simar gave the baby to Ana and they left. When they left, Mr. Sinha, Mr. Sharma, and Zahid came into the room. Mr. Sinha had flowers in his hands. Simar said, “Sorry sir, I could not make it to the wedding.”

  Mr. Sinha said, “Neither could I. It’s been postponed to next week. You better get well by then.” They all laughed.

  “Simar, please forgive me, I was the one who asked you to catch the metro. I am responsible for this condition.” Sharma said with guilt-drenched voice.

  “Don’t be sorry Sir. I am glad I was there. I was able to help those people who could not help themselves. More importantly, I am happy, I did my duty.”

  “Not only that Simar, you have shown the world that one person can make a difference. Sinha added, “What you have done in the metro is what I haven’t seen in my life. You are the bravest person I have ever met.” He continued.

  “Thank you, sir, but Sir, the credit goes to those people as well who worked along with me and showed great courage to fight the terrorists.”

  “Of course, they showed great courage as well.” Mr. Sinha handed over the flowers to Simar and left. Simar checked her phone. She had hundreds of Facebook and Instagram requests. People started fan pages and hashtags. Her bravery went viral as millions of people on social media shared her story. The interviews of the passengers were all over on the youtube.

  After seeing Sharma and Sinha off, Zahid came in and stood right in front of her. He wanted to say so many things. He tried many times, but words just could not come out of his mouth. Simar was busy on her phone and did not give much attention to him.

  He bid a bye to Simar and left. Simar was just pretending to be busy on her phone, but as soon as he left the room, she looked up. “I know Zahid what’s going on in your mind, but I am not ready for this. I don’t want to give you any false hopes.”

  After a few weeks, the life came back to the previous routine. Today it was the wedding of Mr. Sinha’s daughter. Everybody was happy. Simar had recovered from most of her injuries. She showed her dancing skills which came complimentary with the Punjabi genes. Zahid could not dance. He kept on looking at Simar. Simar knew what was happening but she kept her conversation with Zahid only casual.

  After a few days, Simar received a call from Ana. She invited her to dinner. Simar agreed to join them. Simar arrived at their place in her new jeep and the couple welcomed her. Simar asked where the baby was and Ana took her to the baby bed. Simar lifted the baby and asked Siddarth, “What is her name.”

  Siddarth said, “Simar”. Simar looked surprisingly towards Ana and Siddarth.

  Ana said, “You saved her life and we want her to be brave like you.” Simar felt a bit emotional and kissed the baby. Ana went to the kitchen to organize the dinner. Simar put the baby again in bed and sat with Siddarth.

  Simar asked, “What do you do?”

  Siddarth took a deep breath and said, “I am a scientist.”

  “Why are you so sad saying that?”

  “I am not a traditional scientist, I like to develop new things. Sometimes they are good and sometimes they are not. I used to work with the Indian Space Research Center and was a part of India’s major space programs. But I got terminated from my job stating that I was not enough dedicated to the assigned projects. I did not like working with them as well. They did not allow my imagination to expand fully. I always researched different ways to solve the energy needs of the expanding the population. I made a car which could run on water and many other things.”

  “The other scientists used to laugh at me. They said I don’t have a good future and I was just wasting my time on things which nobody cared. I don’t have a job anymore. I was lucky that my wife was working. We can manage our bills.”

  “What does Ana do,” Simar asked?

  Ana came with a bowl of curry in her hands and said, “I am a computer software engineer and I teach in the engineering college.” Then she put the bowl on the table. Simar also went into the kitchen to help her in setting up the dinner table. While setting up the table, Ana told her, “We have been married for long and did not have any baby. This baby we had after so many treatments and prayers. Baby Simar is life to us. We will be always thankful to you.”

  “Don’t worry Ana, I just did what was needed in that situation.”

  Then they had dinner and after some time Simar, bid farewell to them and left.

  The metro incident gave a warning alarm to the criminals. Now they knew the ways they were doing the things wasn’t easy anymore. Police now was getting fitter and more efficient and less corrupt. It was affecting the illegal business. This was putting a huge impact on the income of big fishes. Although they fight with each other, now they came together against this new version of police. One meeting of all heads of the gangs was organized.

  “This new police lady is the reason for all this.” One of the ten men said who had gathered in a room above the nightclub. Loud music was being played on the ground floor. People were enjoying their selves.

  The other man said while expelling the smoke from his lungs and with angry expressions on his face, “Since she has started, our business has gone down. All policemen are scared to take money.”

  “Not only police, common people also follow her. They do whatever she says.” Men from the group gave their opinion one by one.

  “We have to do something or find another city to work. Youngsters don’t want to buy drugs anymore. We will die of starvation if she stays in this city.” One ugly man said.

  “This is our city, we are not going anywhere. One police lady can’t scare us off.” One man said and other agreed.

  “What can we do? She has caught most of the suppliers and those not caught have gone into hibernation.” The Same ugly man said.

  “We have to kill her.” One man who had been sitting quietly till now, spoke.

  The man laughed and said, “It seems you don’t watch the news. She was alone and unarmed when she failed the metro hijack. Those terrorists were highly trained, dangerous and heavily armed. They all are dead and the one who is alive is in jail. What are your chances, my friend?”

  “The terrorists were foolish. I have a plan. This plan does not target only her but her reputation as well. People and police will stop admiring her, rather they will hate her. We won’t kill her, she will kill herself.”

  The whole group was stunned, how was that even possible. He told his plan to others as the music got louder and louder.

  Simar had resumed her duties. Her respect in the department had increased even more. The crime rate was at an all-time low in the city. Simar was wor
king in her office when her phone rang.

  “Hello, Simar Kaur here.”

  “Hello Simar, DGP Sinha speaking. How are you?”

  “Very well Sir, and yourself?”

  “I am good too. I rang you to tell you something.”

  “What is that Sir?”

  “The fifth of the next month a convention is going to happen. All the main political leaders and businessmen of the country are going to attend it. The Prime minister will be the chief guest. We have to look after the security of all the dignitaries. I want you to be the in charge of this whole function.”

  “Thank you, sir, if you think I am capable of that, but there are many seniors in the department. They might feel bad if juniors are taking over major responsibilities?”

  “Do you doubt my decision making, Simar?”

  “No Sir, not at all.”

  “I wanted my best officer to do this job. If you cannot do it, let me know.”

  “No Sir, I didn’t mean that. I can do that.”

  “Ok, I will send you the required information.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  As soon as Simar received the details, she started working on it. The premises of the event and its surroundings were checked comprehensively by her. She worked on all aspects and did all the arrangements very efficiently.

  Today was the day of the convention. Simar was already on the site in her formal dark blue pants, a crisp white shirt, and blue check blazer. Today she made a bun of her hair instead of a ponytail. If anyone doesn’t know her will surely mistake her for a model that came to glorify the event. Mr. Sharma rang, “How are you, my daughter?”

  “I am very well. Just busy with security arrangements for today, I am up since last night. I hope everything goes alright.”

  “It will go alright I am sure. I got a feedback from the staff that you’re doing a good job that’s why I wanted to call, to congratulate you on how well you are handling this task.”