Short Story – The Train Journey
Social Short Story – The Train Journey
Photo credit: giggs from morguefile.comtrain
Arjun sat on the seat that he had just found in the general compartment of the train. He had been having a really difficult time after losing his job for the second time in six months. This time the reason was his boss. He had been quitting the jobs he found every time. Arjun was a qualified lawyer who had been doing everything but working in the field he was educated in.
An elderly man came and sat right next to him and started off a conversation. There was a slight jerk and the train started to move. The elderly man had tattered clothes on him. He looked sad and paled in comparison with Arjun. On close observation there was blood on his cheeks and on his hands. Arjun was scared. He looked at the man again. He was a tad terrifed. Then he decided to strike a conversation.
“It was strange”, the man said. “This time I do not feel any pain.”
Arjun had al the more reasons to be scared. In sometime however with the next station approaching Arjun decided he would get out of the train to end this ordeal. The man told Arjun his name was Syed. He worked as a tailor in the nearby street. So what was his real story. Syed told him that the blood on him was the result of being hit by his own son. This brought tears to his eyes as he spoke.
His son Jamal was assaulting him? He thought to himself. He decided to ask further about his son as he also knew of a person by the name Jamal. Arjun was shocked when Syed told him that Jamal was working with Karuna & Company, who were into exports and imports. It was the same place that he had worked. In fact Arjun had slapped Jamal for a small misunderstanding which resulted in Jamal losing his job.
Was it possible that Jamal hit his father because of this reason? It was a small world. Jamal was to be blamed for hitting his father, but it was certainly Arjun who was responsible for this strange turn of events. He got down at the next stop and told the old man the whole story and promised he would help Jamal get back his job.
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