CROSSROADS

Like every other day, Dev's train pulled up at the crossing. He peeked out of the railings, searching for the beautiful young lady living across the track. Other than his job, she had become his favorite part of the day. She was like a good luck charm that made his day blessed and complete. Everything that he set his heart and mind on happened like a piece of cake. Surely, there is something about her, he contemplated.

Soon, he spotted her, feeding her chickens (as usual). He shook his head, feeling very amused. Seriously, this girl seems to be obsessed with the bird.

Today, however, was not the same. Like a proud peacock with its glorious train feathers opened wide, her luscious, glossy wet hair was left open to its full magnificence. Freshly showered, she looked so divine.

Then, he saw it: a mangalsutra adorning her neck, and red, powdery sindoor on the parting of her hair. For some unknown reason, his heart sank.

She's married... Heart clenching, he slowly recoiled into himself. How come I never noticed this before?

The train slithered forward, leaving his heart splattered all over the tracks. He attempted to shake off the weird, sick feeling bubbling in his gut. So what if she's married, he scolded himself, what's your problem? You don't even know her! And get this, she doesn't know you either. So, stay put and clear out.

But deep down, he wished that he did know her.

Another Monday dawned.

Streets teemed with men and women racing ahead of time, kids shuttling between tuitions and school, and bone-worn seniors soaking up the post-winter sun.

At a suburban railway station, Devang Chaudhary, early thirties, grunted, groaned, and squeezed through the door of a crowded local train along with ten others.

He was the kind of white-collar executive you'd bump into at a busy station every day – neat formals, unbuttoned collar, and a laptop strapped over the shoulder.

"Dude! Watch it!" he snapped when his laptop crushed dangerously amidst sweaty bodies.

He plopped in through the train's door and grabbed the first thing he could to break his fall: hand straps.

The train inched forward with a painful bellow of its siren.

There was barely half a foot of standing space. Now and then, an elbow or two nudged into his sides or a stray foot over his own. Yet, he kept his cool and caught his breath. Hectic? Yes. But exciting and worth looking forward to.

For Devang Chaudhary, fondly known as Dev in his circle of friends, family, and colleagues, this marked the beginning of a new journey in his life. It was his first day on his dream job.

A month back, after a grueling series of tough interviews, he bagged a challenging senior role at a Fortune 500 company in the city.

Towering at a good 6'2, Dev struggled to stand at ease in the congested train. A particularly strong-smelling passenger before him added to his woes. Restricted breaths. Turning away. Looking up. Looking down. He tried it all but alas! Nothing gave him relief. Starving for air, he gently shouldered past to the door earning many dirty looks on the way.

He reached the door only to find it taken by a dark, balding man in his 40's. Either way, he pushed through and hungrily gasped in a deep whiff of pure, fresh oxygen... blended with thick fumes from the train and the disgusting reek of toilets at the station. Something in his throat and stomach churned, making him gag.

The balding man noticed. "It'll be gone few minutes from here," he stated.

"Huh?" Dev looked up, breathless and puzzled.

"The stench from the toilets," he clarified.

"Oh, okay," Dev mumbled sheepishly and looked away, a little embarrassed.

"My initial days were kind of similar. Eventually, I learned to hold my breath." The balding man smiled and threw another glance at Dev. "I haven't seen you around by the way. New to this part of town?"

"Yes," Dev replied.

"New posting?"

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"Bharat Industries."

"Oh really? Wonderful place to work."

"Thanks," Dev smiled.

"I work at Arson Smith by the way," the balding man stated proudly.

"I see! I have a friend who works there."

"Really? Which department?"

"Engineering. Gaurav Saran."

"I know him! He's your friend!"

"Batch mates from college," Dev answered.

Gradually, the train picked up speed and chugged through a decent suburb lined with identical duplex houses on either side. Two rail tracks ran parallel in between.

Dev began to enjoy the ride. He was thrilled to stand at the door, to have the wind slap through his hair and clothes while feasting on the sights outside.

Soon, the train slowed down and came to a stop.

Dev looked around. They were parked at some desolate place with nothing but tall grass around. He glanced at his watch. Three minutes had passed. "Are we at a station or something?" he asked the balding man.

"Not really," he answered. "There's a crossing here. The express train is due any minute." He paused to listen. "Talk about the devil. Here it comes."

A BLARE closed in fast and SLAPPED past.

WHEEEEEEE-WHIZZZZZZ-CHUG-CHUG....

CLICKITY-CLACK.... CHUG-CHUG.... CLICKITY-CLACK....

A never-ending blur of blue whizzed past.

"This happens every day?" Dev shouted over the thundering noise.

"Every day except the weekends," the balding man blasted back

.

After the last bit of the express train chugged out of view, their train began to roll when his eyes fell on the house across the empty track – a decent, single-story with a dainty vegetable garden. It had its back to the passing trains. What caught his attention was something else.

In the backyard was a beautiful young lady, a chiffon saree wrapped over her slender frame. She looked like early 20's something and had big, sparkling, expressive eyes and soft, flowing hair as lush as silk. She crouched and sprinkled a generous handful of grains for her pets – a couple of chickens and a rooster. They picked furiously with one of them even stopping to give her a playful peck. She giggled, bringing a smile on Dev's lips without him even knowing it.

Despite her smile, the profound sadness that consumed her didn't fail to make its mark, one that seemed as though she was drowning it all in the only world around her – the chickens.

I wonder what it is; he thought and scanned the surroundings. Does she live alone?

He craned his neck to get a better look, but the house looked empty. The only part which gave an illusion of life was the kitchen at the back. But that could probably be so because of her presence in there.

Absentminded, he set his empty gaze on her beautiful smile and expressive eyes.

She's actually cute, he thought with a soft grin. Her smile is so innocent... her eyes are so bright, her hair so silky... her... hang on, Dev. This is so not you. Since when did you engage in bird watching? Dev had always been the studious type who dared to dream and take calculated steps in reaching his goal.

They started to pull out, but Dev couldn't take his eyes off her. Something about her kept pulling him back like a magnet, tempting him to turn around over and over again, he simply couldn't figure out what.

Soon, they were zipping over a single track and closing in on the next station. Minutes later, Dev alighted at his stop.

***

The day started with Dev taking charge as the company's IT Project Lead. He introduced himself to his team and spent a while getting to know them in return. He laid out plans on how to get things moving.

***

Past noon, Dev exited the conference room after a long session with his team. He ordered lunch on his way to his cabin and was about to enter when his phone rang.

"Hello beautiful," he answered as he walked through the door.

"Busy?" A sweet voice responded from the other end.

"I was, just got free. And now, I'm waiting for my lunch. You?" He plopped onto his chair, making it creak.

"I'm done long back, you know me."

"Of course, we've been on countless breakfast, lunch, and dinner dates together. How wouldn't I know?"

She chuckled at that. "So how was your day?" she asked, and he narrated the day's events like an excited little kid.

Soon, she came to the point. "There's a wonderful alliance for you, by the way. Just came in yesterday. They would like to meet us sometime this weekend."

His face darkened. "Not possible," he stated bluntly and typed out a mail with the phone wedged in between his shoulder and ear. Clearly, he wasn't interested at all. "Tons of meetings," he added to not sound rude.

"But that's what you said the last time too!" she protested.

"I had interviews at that time, remember?"

"And after that?"

"After that I was busy."

"Dev..." she began in a disappointed tone.

"Ma, can we talk about this later? Wrong time to eat my head!" He rattled away at the keyboard.

Yep, he was talking to his dear mother all this while. There was a brief silence before she spoke again. "When?" she asked, the disappointment evident in her voice.

"Later, but not today. Not this week." He wished he hadn't said the last part.

"What is your intention?" she lashed outright.

Pausing briefly, he noted the growing anger, frustration, and disappointment in her voice. He rolled away from his desk, held the phone properly, and leaned back on his chair, sighing. "You want me to get married, isn't it? So, do me a favor and hold onto your horses. When the time is right, I will."

"And when is that? You're thirty-four!"

"You sound like I'm in my sixties," he scoffed.

"...Well, I definitely am," she snapped.

"And you'll live to be a hundred, I'll make sure of that."

"Be serious, Dev! I want you to get settled and have a companion."

"Which I find absolutely unnecessary when I've got a sexy girlfriend like you."

"Shut up! At least now, get serious!"

"Okay!" He pursed his lips.

"Why can't you understand? Life is so unpredictable. I will not be around forever."

"And you're certain that I will be?"

She responded with an irritated sigh, and then, uncomfortable silence followed, a silence of contemplation, one that reawakened bitter memories. Life was unpredictable indeed, and no one could state that better than the Chaudhary's.

Dev was nine when his father, Amit, an army officer, was killed in action on the border. He still remembered that fateful day as fresh as his waking life. When the terrible news had reached them, he'd watched his mother crumble at the doorway.

A knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts.

Dev looked up to see the delivery boy with his lunch. He waved two fingers, gesturing him to enter. The guy zipped in, placed his lunch on the table, and cleared out quickly, almost as if he could smell the looming tension.

"Hello?" Dev finally spoke, to which he heard the line abruptly end.

***

The sun sank below the horizon, making the sky gleam a bright orange with the silhouettes of people, vehicles, buildings, and other structures against it.

Dev was on his way home on another train. This time, luck favored him with a seat near the window. Looking exhausted and crummy, but happy, he sat resting his head on the bars and stared dreamily at the sights whizzing past. His first day at work was uneventful but thrilling, nevertheless. He was entrusted with a big responsibility – to shoulder the company's overseas projects. Though this was something he'd done before, it was still different in the case that he had a bigger team to handle, around twenty-five engineers locally and ten abroad to be precise. It gave him a really satisfying, important feeling.

Coming to it, his job was fab, but not the commute. It was torture and sapped out his time and energy. This can't go on, he calculated, need to find an apartment that's closer to work, after that I can get mom over too.

Back home, she led a solitary life with none for company. She had two sons – Vikas and Dev, of which the older one, Vikas, had moved out with his wife after marriage. And then, it was just her and Dev for a while. But now...

Dev was concerned. He didn't want her to be alone. She was old and had medical issues. Besides, loneliness tended to remind her of Amit.

Dev was academically bright and scored well in college. He had attractive offers from MNC's but taking them up would have meant leaving his mother behind all alone, and he didn't want that. It was through a lot of effort that he found a job that was closer to home. Closer in the sense, he still had to stay elsewhere. Somewhere that was much closer to work. So, for the time being, he found a dingy, congested apartment and shared it with another guy just like him.

He observed a familiar station zip past and looked down at his watch. 6:45 PM.

The train slowed down at the crossing and his eyes drifted off to the beautiful young lady he had seen in the morning. She was busy again, but this time, she was getting the chickens into their coop. Is this what she does all day? Dev snickered.

***

At 7:30 PM, there was a knock on the door of the Chaudhary's residence, and Mrs. Amala Chaudhary (Dev's mom) answered it.

It was a delivery boy holding a bouquet of red roses. "Mrs. Amala Chaudhary?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"This is for you," he said and handed it across.

"For me? Who sent this?" she asked curiously and spotted a tag on the bouquet. It had a winking emoji and a "Guess Who?" scribbled onto it. She sighed and smirked. That handwriting... she'd recognize it anywhere.

***

Meanwhile, Dev was fresh and all set for some dinner he'd prepared – two chapatis, salads, and a few large chunks of boiled chicken. Yes, he was a fitness freak and a not-so-bad cook. His roommate was yet to get back from work.

He had slipped into a comfortable pair of tracks and a t-shirt for the evening. When he sat down at the table, a notification popped up on his phone.

Your order has been delivered at 7:30 PM to Mrs. Amala Chaudhary

"Perfect," he mumbled, smirking.

As soon as he said that, his phone started ringing. It was a call from his mother. He allowed it to ring at will. "Posture, Dev, posture," he instructed himself. On the seventh ring, he put up the most pitiable face and answered it. "Hello?" he said unenthusiastically.

"Where are you?" she asked rather calmly. From her tone, he could make out that she was smirking.

"Home. Why?" He kept a straight face.

"Nothing. Got the flowers, that's all."

"Flowers? What flowers?" He asked innocently, biting down on his lip to suppress the smile.

"My foot!" She snapped.

Dev burst out laughing.

"Don't laugh," she said rather crossly, "I don't find anything funny."

"Okay, fine!" Dev caught a grip on himself.

"I've been after you for quite a while, and you've been doing great, making a monkey out of me!"

Dev sighed, exasperated. "Why are you so hell-bent on getting me married? I've told you, I don't want to get into this now. When the time's right, I will. As of now, I've got a dream, and I want to reach there before committing to anything else. You know how hard I'd worked for that. And, I also want that whoever comes into our life, accepts you. I can't leave you behind and walk out like Vikas." At that, his voice trailed away. Things weren't well between Vikas and them, Vikas' wife and their mother, to be precise. Common in-law wars. Eventually, Vikas and his wife moved out before the entire family tree bit the dust.

Amala sighed, giving in. "Fine. What's for dinner?"

"Chicken," he stated and immediately, he was reminded of her – the strange, beautiful girl and her pet chickens. He paused, smiling, wondering why she even came to his mind. A strong urge to discuss her with his mother brewed inside him.

Despite being on a voice call, his mother sensed him smiling. "What?" she asked rather sternly.

Tell her, a voice in his head demanded, but...

"Nothing," he nodded, smiling.

Just tell her, the voice insisted again.

But for what, he countered. There's nothing important to be discussed about her.

"Then?" came his mother's voice, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Nothing," he repeated. "I want to kiss you, that's all."

"Go and sleep," she chuckled.

***