THE MARRIAGE HALL

“Get down the train”

I got down the train. Time is around 6 pm.

“Go directly in station road leading to Fruit Market.”

I asked someone at the four roads junction-

“Which road leads to fruit market?”

“Which fruit market?” He asked me with confusion.

“How many fruit markets are here?”

“There are four. East fruit market, west fruit market, south fruit market and north fruit market. Each one of these four roads leads to each one fruit market I said.”

Someone answered quickly, cleared my confusion and went away on his way.

Unfortunately, I am not in a state of clear “cleared confusion”, so I read the instructions.

“Stop at Petrol Bunk and go to left.”

I stopped another someone and asked him to tell me, in which road a petrol bunk is available.

“You don’t have a vehicle, even a two wheeler, why you need a petrol bunk?”

“There is a friend waiting for me.” I said to avoid another such question.

“There are four petrol bunks in all these four roads, east petrol bunk, west petrol bunk, north petrol bunk and south petrol bunk. Which petrol bunk your friend asked you to come?”

Someone is very kind and the slip with instructions is not kind enough.

“Nnnorrtth petrol bunk” I said with little confusion.

The kind someone looked at me with some kind of hesitation, as if it came from me, then he showed me towards north side and said, “Try to know which side is north and which side is south, why disturb people with little confusions like this.”

I got my first lesson and started my journey to north petrol bunk. When I reached there, I took the paper of instructions.

“Stop at petrol bunk and go to left.”

I saw a big pond in the left. I dare not say I dare go to left. So I looked at the instructions again.

“When you go in the left side road, you will see a local bus stand. Catch bus no.63″

I stopped another someone and asked him, “where is the Local Bus Stand?”

I am afraid to hear again four bus stands with east, west, north and south bus stands.

“Local bus stand is in the temple street? Why you came to this church street?”

“I am new to this place.”

“If you are new to the place, you can ask someone like me.”

I want to say that I could not find that someone like him. But I could not say that.

“Can you tell me, which way leads to bus stand?”

“No” he said.

I cannot understand what he wants to convey. I looked at his face with my blank face. He understood my confusion and said the explanation of his “No”

“I don’t know how to tell you. If I ask you to go by that south way, the pond will stop you, You have to fly like a spiderman to reach the bus stand. If I ask you go by that north way, there is a big fish market to stop you reach the bus stand. The walls are so long that if only you are a hero of any latest film, you can cross the walls. If I ask you to go by east way, the estate of the mutton stalls stop you and you cannot go in between the cruel sounds of the mutton choppers there. And the west, it is again a place of rowdies and they don’t leave an unknown man like youwithout looting everything, including your dress.”

I understood that the ‘someone’ is very knowledgeable person.

“I am thinking, what to suggest you.” He is seriously thinking about some way.

I am looking for a way out from this man. I saw one Auto standing nearby.

I said the Auto driver that I have to attend a marriage hall and I said the name of that marriage hall.

He understood that I am new to the place. It is already dark.

“I charge two hundred rupees. It is a very faraway place.” He said.

I have no other go. I cannot walk further more and take advises of many more like someone.

I accepted. He took me in his auto from the roads I walked and where I got down from the train. He turned left and stopped besides one old tiled house.

I saw the driver with suspicion. The street looks like a red light area. There are women sitting before the doors of the houses and they looked hungry towards me.

Auto driver approached a woman and talked with her. She is like a prostitute. Her dress is not well. She has a bunch of jasmines in her hair. She came forward, went in to a house, brought the keys and opened a wooden gate besides one house.

It is vacant place and I very thin and narrow way is there in green grass leading to some bright lights. The colored lights in a little distance are very bright. Some music is also coming from that place.

“Come in sir” The Auto driver said, standing at the gate, besides her.

“Where is the marriage hall?” I asked the Auto driver with suspicion.

By that time I saw the marriage hall with the bright lights in a walking distance and the music is coming from there.

“This is the shortcut way to that marriage hall. She is my darling.”

The Auto driver said showing me the woman besides him. She is very beautiful, so the taste of Auto driver has to be appreciated, I thought.

I have no chance to ask anything. I paid and walked through that small narrow way leading to the marriage hall.

My friend’s marriage is going to be celebrated there.

__END__