In the meantime I thought I would
take a nap. I climbed up on to the upper berth in an AC 2-Tier coach, only to
wake up in the Railway Police Station of Anand Vihar Terminal in New Delhi. I
found myself in semi-conscious state, sitting in a wooden chair, gargling with
salt-water and water containing dissolved alum in quick succession. Right in
front of me was the Sub-Inspector of the station sitting on his chair. He asked
me to get up from the chair and walk. Hardly had I walked a couple of paces
when I almost stumbled on to the floor before being held together by a Constable.
The Sub-Inspector came up to me and shook me like a rag doll in an attempt to
bring me into full consciousness which of course wasn’t my state then. Reader -
I would not lie to you - I had absolutely no idea what was going on!
The inspector’s attempts to bring
me back to my senses had started to pay off by now. He asked me to name someone
from my family who he could speak to and asked for their contact number. I
blabbered my elder brother’s phone number.
Rewind 16 hours. I boarded
Seemanchal Express at Mughal Sarai Junction for Anand Vihar at about 9.30 am.
My fellow passenger was a lady in her mid-thirties with her son who must have
been around four years old. In due course of our conversation I learned that
her husband was supposed to accompany her; but due to some business commitments
he could not come along with her. Therefore, there was a berth that would go
vacant till Kanpur - her destination.
After having an early lunch at
about 11.30 am, I got up to the overhead berth and went to sleep. I have very
hazy memory of events that took place thereafter. I vaguely remember waking up partially a
couple of times. The first time, I recall seeing that lady, my co-passenger, on
her berth, which makes me believe that the train had not reached Kanpur by
then. The second time, as far as I can recall, there were a couple of young
guys, probably in their late twenties or early thirties, sitting on the same place
previously occupied by that lady and her son. And the next thing that I
remember is being woken up by the Police Sub-Inspector and his assistants.
I was apparently sedated at some
point of time in the train itself and the people who did that (no points for
guessing who they could have been), robbed me of almost everything that was
worth some money. The list of things taken away includes a laptop, an iPhone, a
Kindle, two pairs of shoes, a pair of sunglasses and spectacles, a couple of
wrist watches, a couple of Debit Cards and Credit Cards from Indian Banks, all
the cash in three different currencies in my wallet and a lot of other things
including but not limited to the toiletries. All that was left on me was a
strolley bag with a couple of clothes and a flip-flop or slipper in it. Thankfully
enough, they had left behind my passport and other travel and visa related
documents that I was carrying.
Fast forward to a couple of hours
past midnight, the inspector had already called my brother’s number. I had spoken to him semi-consciously and
assured him that I was in a position to board my flight to the United States a
couple of hours later from Delhi International Airport, although the inspector
insisted on not letting me go considering the state was in. Given the fact that
I had already stayed back for over a month and half and had managed to get the
tickets with great difficulty, my brother did not think it was a great idea for
me to delay my stay any further unless that was absolutely necessary and fortunately
enough I was getting better every minute. Therefore, after an honest
conversation with my brother and assessing my condition again, the inspector
agreed to let me go to the airport. In the meantime, my brother had asked one
of his friends to arrange for a cab to take me to the airport. While on my way
to the airport, my brother’s friend caught up with me at some place and paid
the cab-driver his due and also informed people back home that I was out of all
sorts of dangers. All that time, I was constantly speaking (or mumbling so to
say) to someone or the other from my family on the cab-driver’s mobile phone. I
do not remember how I managed to check-in and board the flight. All I recollect
is a girl, who might have been some official at the airlines, shouting
instructions at me on top of her voice to follow her and asking me to walk a little
faster as I was well beyond the boarding time and the flight gates were about
to be closed. Once boarded, I think I slept well for the next three to four
hours before the flight landed in Qatar at the Doha International Airport where
I had a layover of another three hours before boarding the next flight to
Washington DC. I only have hazy memories of all the incidents that I have
recounted thus far. It was precisely upon being woken up by the flight
attendant at Doha when I came back into complete senses, fully aware of myself!
A couple of cups of fresh coffee
and a few minutes of severe headache later, I called up my family back in India
to let them know of my well-being and my current whereabouts (remember they had
taken only cards from Indian banks? I still had my cards from US on me!). I got
to know a lot of things when I spoke to my brother. He told me that the Railway
policemen had discovered me lying in the train compartment in Anand Vihar
railway yard – obviously hours after the train had arrived at the station and
had gone into the yard for maintenance. The train was scheduled to arrive there
roughly at 9 pm and it did so. I was sedated so heavily that I did not wake up
on my own even 4 hours after that. The police had located me at around 1 am
that night and it was around 2 am that they had called my brother. Everyone
back home was trying to reach my phone since 7 pm in the evening; but they were
unable to, since it had been stolen and switched off, and consequently were
panic-stricken – quite understandably so!
My brother also asked me for
information about all the Debit and Credit cards that were stolen and assured
me that they would be taken care of at the earliest. By then, it was time for
me to board the next flight, most of which was spent either sleeping or eating
before it finally touched down at the Dulles International Airport in
Washington DC at about 8 pm in the night.
After going through the immigration
process, I managed to reach the gate from where I would get my connecting
flight to St. Louis, I found, to my utter dismay, that the aircraft was already
on its way out of Washington. The immigration apparently had taken a lot of
time owing to the huge incoming traffic. I was informed by the officials that the
earliest I could get the next flight was next morning. I had no choice but to
wait. Since I did not have a mobile phone or any other medium of electronic
communication left on me, the best I could do to find a hotel was to talk to
the same officials and have them arrange something for me. They tried calling
up a few hotels they had listed on their records, but with no success. So I had
to spend the whole night at the airport before boarding the flight next
morning. Thankfully, this time I did get the flight and arrived at Lambert
International Airport in St. Louis.
I breathed a deep sigh of relief
upon reaching my apartment. That journey of over 48 hours had started to feel
like eternity. On checking my jeans pocket, I found a small note that had the
name and number of the Police Sub-Inspector at Anand Vihar Railway Police
Station. That evening (effectively the next morning in India), I called to
thank him and found out that I was not the only victim that night. There was
another guy, sitting on the side berth of the same coupe as me, who had gone
through the same ordeal. On listening to that I could immediately recollect
from whatever little memory I had of the night before, that I had seen this guy
sitting next to me on another chair in the Police Station in a state similar to
mine! Anyway, the Sub-Inspector informed me that this other guy had given a
detailed account of whatever he recalled and the investigation was in progress.
I got absolved in catching up with work after a very long break and never
pursued the case further or followed up with him. Let me admit – to be honest,
I was happy that they had not taken away my passport and other travel documents
and I could successfully fly out of Delhi that night. Nonetheless, what a night
that was!
Amidst all that high-intensity
drama, the only silver lining was that I turned 25 the next day. Although not
surrounded by family and friends, I felt quite good to be in the safe haven of
my apartment considering the turn of events in the couple of days leading up to
it.
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