Umbrella

Mirpur must be one of the smallest railway stations in India. It had only one small platform with just one bench and no shades. Only short distance passenger trains stopped there. He was waiting for one of those trains at almost noon in the month of may. The sun was over his head and he was using an umbrella to protect himself from the sunlight. It would have been one of the hottest day of the year and hot summer wind made it even worse. He was holding the umbrella with his right arm and was trying to read a Ved Prakash Sharma novel to kill time while he was waiting for the train. It was difficult to concentrate on reading with wind blowing the pages. Suddenly a strong wave of wind blew his umbrella and he ran to catch it, holding the book in one hand. He managed to catch the umbrella at some distance, where it got stuck on some dead wood.

When he was coming back towards the bench holding the umbrella in one hand and the book in the other, he spotted a girl standing near the pillar covering her face with a veil and holding a bag in her hand. She was probably standing there for a while but he did not notice. May be the novel was too captivating to divert his attention anywhere else. She was trying to hide behind the small shadow of the pillar to cover herself from the sun, but her efforts were all going in vein. There was no one else on the platform. He walked up to the girl and offered her his umbrella, "ye le lo. bahut dhoop hai." She nodded rejecting his offer. He insisted, "le lo" and handed over the umbrella to the girl. She accepted the umbrella reluctantly. "tum chaho to wohan bench pe baith sakti ho" he said pointing towards the bench. She nodded in negative. "theek hai, jaisi tumhari marji" he added and went back to the bench.

He tried to continue reading but could not. All he could think of was about the girl. Who she was? Why she was alone? Where was she going? Why had he never seen her before? Was she from Mirpur or just visiting someone? So many questions in his head about the girl were not letting him concentrate on the book. Afternoon sun was also not being very helpful. He held the book over his head to cover himself from the light. While he was busy thinking about the girl and trying to figure out the answers to so many questions in his head, he realised she was standing behind him holding the umbrella above him covering him from sunlight. He looked at her and pointed towards the bench. She sat beside him holding the umbrella. Her face was still covered with the veil that she was holding with her teeth. He could see only half her face and he could tell she was remarkably beautiful. Nothing like he had seen in all his life.

She was feeling uncomfortable sitting with him and he could sense the tension. He spoke, "hum Sitapur ja rahe hain. hum wohan patakhon ki factory me kaam karte hain. tum kahan ja rahi ho?" She was shy but she answered, "hum bhi Sitapur ja rahe hain. humara ghar hai wohan." Her veil fell from her face as she spoke and he could see her remarkable beauty. That made him nervous. He did not know whether he was sweating because of heat or because of nervousness. He tried his best to speak, "to tum Mirpur ki rahne wali nahi ho. tabhi main sochun, maine tumhe pahle kabhi kyon nahi dekha. chhota sa gaon hai humara yahan har koi ek dusre ko janta hai." he continued, "hum har 3-4 mahine me ek baar gaon aate hain apne ghar walon se milne." He waited for a moment expecting her to say something but she did not speak. He kept on talking, "Mirpur me kiske yahan aayi thi tum." "Banwari Lal" she answered. He was not very pleased, when he heard the name, but he tried his best to not let it show on his face. "Banwari Kaka. Kaise hain Banwari kaka, tabiyat kaisi rahti hai unki aajkal. pichhli baar mila tha to chalne firne me takleef hoti thi unko" he enquired trying to look genuine. "theek hain abhi" she answered. He could not imagine anyone so beautiful anywhere even remotely related to Banwari for the kind of man he was. He was the local moneylender and everyone hated him. He asked, "tum Banwari Kaka ko kaise janti ho?" She hesitated for a moment, then replied, "hum unki biwi hain. pichhle mahine hi humari shaadi hui. humare babu ji ko paison ki sakht jaroorat thi aur Banwari lal ne humare babu ji ko 50000 rupaye diye humari shaadi ke badle me." She was almost to tears when she said those words. His heart almost sank, he could not hear the sound of the train coming towards the platform.