She wore a Punjabi suit which fitted her well enough to show off her shapely curves. Her hair, which she normally used to tie in an untidy bun, was neatly knit in loose plaits. A garland made from flowers of jasmine adorned her thick plait. She looked fabulous and her blushing cheeks made her look special. Sajjan’s heart missed a beat as he realized how fabulously beautiful she was – otherwise – always hidden behind the simple adivasi drape. Unwittingly, his thoughts wandered to the time when they met for the first time…
He had boarded the passenger train at Sambhalmati Junction on his way to Dheemapur. He had deliberately booked first class for this evening train so that he can start preparation for the work he had do at Dheemapur. He was amazed to find that the first class had only three coupe compartments in the entire bogie of the train. It was lavish almost like a mini hotel room. This train halted at every possible halt and reached Dheemapur early in the morning. The train was ambling through the jungle area and had halted at a station known as Jalasagar, notably due to a waterfall nearby.
The ticket checker had knocked on the door of his compartment and warned him not to open the door – no matter what he saw, heard or the situation. He looked at his watch – almost 3am. He was informed that the train would now be passing through a patch of the jungle which extended to outskirts of Dheemapur. This patch was the one where a dangerous tribe resided. The people of this tribe were ruthless and could easily kill people. Their religion was to loot the people who passed their territory. He was requested to lower the ventilator shutters to the windows as they could throw stones at the train injuring someone travelling inside. There was no official stop for the train till they reached the base of hill on the outskirts of Dheemapur.
He started to pull down the shutters of the windows his compartment from one side and then the other, even as the train started to pull out of Jalasagar station. He was about to pull down the last ventilating shutter of the compartment when he faintly saw a feminine figure clinging dangerously on the bars of the door, the bar held with one hand while the other awkwardly held a gathari of her belongings.
He thought about the situation for a moment and weighed his chances. The train had left the last safe stop and was now moving toward the dangerous parts of the jungle. The female who clung outside the door had tried to board the train at the last safe halt. He couldn’t let her hang on so dangerously. He opened the door and asked her to enter. She was reluctant to enter inside; she then considered the danger of hanging out to a smiling man who looked good at his heart and intentions. She entered into the compartment.
He looked at her. She was barely in her twenties. Absolutely scared, draped in adivasi outfit, her short saree dirty as if she had been rolling in mud. Her hands and feet had red marks as if she had taken some beating. She looked around in the compartment which looked like a mini room of a hotel and sat near the open door, ready to jump out of the running train in case Sajjan did get any wolf like instinct looking at this desperate and helpless adivasi girl.
It took him some time to start a soft conversation with her and assure her that she would be safe with him in the compartment. The door needed to be shut due to the danger outside. She had reluctantly agreed and he had shut and bolted the door.
This was a phase, where two unknown people were locked in one compartment, each unwilling to trust the other. She could belong to that dangerous tribe, he thought. He could be a wolf and harm her, she thought. After some time, they realized that they had to have an open mind to trust each other and not rely on their current thoughts.
He took the lead and explained her that he was travelling to Dheemapur to help the farmers there. He related few of his experiences from his earlier projects in Kerala, Madhumalai, etc.
This had relaxed her and she had kept her face hidden, resting on the gathari she carried. She then had started to cry inconsolably. He had prodded her gently to make her speak about what had made her hang onto the train so dangerously. Once she was able to control herself, she had told him how she had been running around in the jungle the whole day, away from a group of men who wanted to capture her and force her to compromise her chastity. It had been a difficult day for her. The group had almost caught her twice or thrice and had tried to injure her so that she couldn’t run away. To him she seemed like a brave tigress who had managed to escape from a band of poachers. He had assured her safety and had asked her to stay with him till the time he was at Dheemapur. He would like to search a family to whom he could safely entrust her custody; finish his mission there and move on to his next one. After all, she was going to be with him – only for 90 days…He now looked again at her – what a difference from that scared adivasi girl to someone who was breathtakingly beautiful – sitting in front of him, awaiting his reaction to the visible change in her looks.
Are you ready for a thrill ride like no other?
Look no further than Prasad Deshpande, the mastermind behind heart-stopping, spine-tingling thrillers
that will leave you breathless and begging for more!
"Unimaginable Plots, Unrelenting Suspense"
With a twisted imagination and a flair for the unexpected,
Prasad Deshpande weaves intricate tales that will keep you guessing until the very end.
From shocking twists to heart-pumping action, it is a wild ride that will push you to the edge of your seat.
Dive into a World of Thrills and Chills
Explore the dark corners of the human psyche, where the unimaginable becomes reality.
Prasad Deshpande's thrillers are not for the faint or weak of heart,
but for those who crave a story that will haunt them long after the final page is turned.
- Prasad Deshpandehttps://storiesandme.com/author/prasad/
- Prasad Deshpandehttps://storiesandme.com/author/prasad/
- Prasad Deshpandehttps://storiesandme.com/author/prasad/
- Prasad Deshpandehttps://storiesandme.com/author/prasad/