25 January 2021

The Ladies Waiting Room

Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station

New Delhi

"Ma'am."

Gauri turned to face Banerjee who handed her a small white paper cup. She held the cup close to her nose and inhaled the fragrance of ginger and cardamom along with the hot vapours of the freshly brewed tea that gave her some warmth. She had learnt very early in life not to trust anyone and yet somehow working with him over the past few years, she had begun to give Arjun the benefit of doubt. And he had turned out to be....

She shook her head to clear her mind of her thoughts. It was a little after 2 am and the last few hours for her had been extremely eventful. Banerjee and she had run from home with nothing but the clothes on their back on one of the coldest days of this winter season. She had refused to use her card fearing Arjun would track her location via the transaction. And between her and Banerjee, they didnt have more than Rs 10,000 in cash.

Gauri knew that Arjun would be using all his authority within the Delhi Police as well as his network of informants to track her. She had suddenly become too valuable to be lost. Discarding her years' garb of white saris, Banerjee and Gauri had stopped at a local ethnic store and purchased a dhoti and angrakha for Banerjee and a ghaghra and choli for her. To be on the safe side, Banerjee had also adorned himself with a turban and a fake moustache. For Gauri, she decided she would use the dupatta as a ghoonghat to cover her face.

To throw Arjun off, Gauri had stopped at a Cyber Cafe and used her credit card to book multiple plane tickets from Delhi. She'd also booked a charter flight from Delhi to Amritsar that left from the Safdarjung Airport. She hoped it would keep Arjun and his cronies busy looking for her at and between the two airports.

She, on the other hand, made her way to Hazrat Nizamuddin in an auto rickshaw and using the remaining cash booked general class tickets for Banerjee and herself to go to Mumbai by the Golden Temple Mail that was due to leave at 4.00 am. So far, everything was going according to plan.

Suddenly, hearing a commotion at the far end of the platform, and spotting some police officers, Gauri quickly covered her head with her ghoonghat, and made her way into the ladies waiting room. She picked a seat next to another woman who had excess luggage and prayed that Banerjee had managed to hide himself as well. Luckily for both of them, they had left their cellphones at home. Arjun couldn't use their GPS location to track them. As she sat on the cold steel chair, she fervently prayed for the police to pass. She held her breath as the inspector rapped his stick on the door to alert the women in the room of his existence. He glanced up and down, rapped his stick once more against the door, and proceeded further. Gauri breathed in relief, and prayed that Banerjee was safe as well. They had to be careful for two more hours and then hopefully...

She thought of the destination she had picked. Mumbai. She had vowed to never return to Mumbai, the place she'd called home since she'd opened her eyes; and yet when her life was in danger that's the first place she thought of, where she knew she would feel safe; where she knew he would keep her safe.

Was she planning to visit him? She told herself it was only to prove Raj's innocence. With the revelation that Bhoomi was Arshad Lala's mistress, there was only one person who could help her - him. Was Bhoomi associated with him as well? She rubbished that thought. He was a free man to do whatever he wanted. She had no right to question him. After all, she was the one who'd left him, not the other way around. But how could she have stayed? 

She sighed. Her life was coming a full circle. She was going to back to him after 12 years. She was part excited and part nervous. She didn't know what to expect. She would be lying if she said she hadn't tried to keep tabs on him but it wasn't easy given that in his profession they didnt particularly advertise their status on LinkedIn. She had friends in the police who could have easily given her the information she was seeking, but that would have led to a lot of questions, ones she wasn't willing to answer.

She glanced outside the window at the streetlights that obscured the light of the moon and wondered what the future had in store.