The Silent View

Day 1

It’s been exactly 25 days since I stopped talking with my family members. I can’t talk or move anymore. That’s my condition but I can sense whatever is happening around me.

I never knew my son Venkat was like this. I thought he was a god-fearing and disciplined boy.

During the times I worked for PAS Motors, I used to wake him up early in the morning for him to prepare for his exams. He was never an 80-90 scorer. I felt he worked hard but could never convert his hard work into big scores.

I even had a good opinion of his friends Murali, Prakash, Ameen and Kumar. Yes, they were his ‘group-study’ mates.

But today these 23-year olds are sitting right in front of me and boozing. And this so called silent boy Murali, who has spoken nothing but the words ‘Hello Uncle’ in front of me, is now annoyed that the pickle is not spicy.

That’s laughable but still annoying!

Ooh no! Kumar just vomited on the 5000-rupee teakwood table that I had bought with my bonus amount.

The language these guys are using is incredible. I’m shocked to see my son behave like this.
But who cares about what I feel?


Day 5

Here comes Lalitha, my sweet little daughter.
What is she doing here at this hour? She should be in her office.
Oh no, is there a strike in the city or is the weather very bad outside?
What has made my beautiful princess get back home at this time?
I can’t even make her a cup of coffee.

Oh hang on, there is a friend coming in with her.
Who’s that?
My goodness, that’s a guy.

I’ve never seen Lalitha speak to guys but this is strange.
We come from a very orthodox family and I raised my girl in a very conservative way.
I thought even she was happy about that.

Aaaaah! It’s totally dark now; the lights are on but the guy has put his jacket on me. Why the hell did he remove his jacket? I can hear them moving to the bedroom. They’ve locked the door.

No! Lalitha, this is definitely wrong; you can’t do this before your marriage.

But, is there a point in me grumbling?


Day 10
It’s 11 AM now. My house is usually silent during daytime as everyone goes to work but I can hear footsteps climbing the stairs now.

Who is going to surprise me today?

Ah, here he comes, my dear brother, Gopal. He used to come here twice a week to visit me but I don’t see him often these days. We grew up together and were very affectionate towards each other.

But what is he doing here when no one is around?
By the way, how did he get in? No, I don’t have an answer.

My goodness, he has got a duplicate key to my safe.
This is unbelievable!
This is a farcical world.


Day 12
You know something; I’m really pissed off. My wife has always been courteous but today she behaved in a way that makes me feel very bad but I’m helpless and I feel like crying.

That’s my situation.

She threw away the flower garland that had been hanging around for a month.
It was reeking but thank God she finally had the time to throw it away.
No, I’m not dreaming to get a new one. She definitely wouldn’t get it.

I think she is upset about the money that was stolen from our safe.
How much was it? I think it was around 25,000 Rs.
Too big an amount to be inconspicuous, is it not?

I can’t say I’ve been good all my life but I’ve never seen these people behave so strangely.

Now I realize that all I wanted was this silent view to understand this strange world.

Oh I was talking about the garland, wasn’t I? You may be wondering why.

I died last month in a car accident and now I am talking to you from my garland less portrait.

Theft on 9096

Theft on 9096

Munnuswamy – Beggar

March 20^th, 8.25 am

Munnuswamy was a regular on 9096. He traveled ticketless to Nechikuppam daily on this train with only one purpose – to entreat money from the commuters. But today he was witness to a special event - a theft. Munnuswamy, with his unclean brown beard and a torn dhoti would watch every individual who boards his compartment. He wondered why so many people traveled daily but realized soon that he wouldn’t even get a penny if no one traveled. As the train started to move from Jenjikuppam, he suddenly heard people in the compartment scream. A man went past him in a flash and while passing, he stamped Munnuswamy’s right hand. Munnuswamy chided him with a not-to-be-spoken bad word but the man never heard what Munnuwamy said. The next second, Munnuswamy heard a loud cry and saw the man lying on the floor. Another man in khaki dress was tying him. As Munnuswamy watched in awe, the man in khaki dress pulled the other man to a seat nearby.

Sasikala Natrajan – Homemaker

March 20^th, 8.10 am

Sasikala boarded 9096 to reach Nechikuppam. The train was crowded and the weather was hot but she had no choice but to travel on 9096. Natrajan was in urgent need of big money, seven lakhs to be precise, and she was taking that with her. She could have booked a cab for her travel but she was totally out of her mind and her blood pressure had shot up after receiving Natrajan’s call that morning. She had five lakhs in her bank and managed to get the remaining two from her friend, Bhanu. Sasikala was wondering why Natrajan needed such a big amount but she knew she wouldn’t get an answer for that. Sasikala thought why people involved themselves in an earning spree but soon remembered Natarajan reminding her that she wouldn’t be enjoying her expensive clothes and flashy jewels if he didn’t do that.

The hurry and tension made her forget to zip her bag properly. Thinking about her hubby, she closed her eyes and went into a trance. After a while, she dreamt like somebody snatching her bag and woke up in a flash to find her bag missing and the man, who was sitting opposite to her, running away.

Rajesh Moorthy – Bike mechanic

March 20^th, 8.15 am

Rajesh Moorthy, a bike mechanic, was a hard working individual. He was poor but led a simple and disciplined life. He worked over-time to meet his family needs and father’s medical expenses. He was late for 9096 but somehow managed to board it while it was on the move. He walked to his seat 63 and found that a lady, clad in a red sari, was seated in the seat opposite to his. He was traveling to Nechikuppam to meet his friend. He got news from his family that his father was admitted to a local hospital as he had got a mild heart attack. Rajesh was in need of money and was rushing to meet Mani to ask for money. He was wondering whether Mani would be able to lend him something which sounded like his own name (Mani ~ money). He laughed at his own wit but he knew that even Mani, a software engineer, wouldn’t be able to help him with such a big amount. He needed four lakhs, but was annoyed at the thought that nobody would help him at this dire state. That’s when he saw a 500-rupee bundle kept overtly in the bag near the lady.

Sundara Vadivel – Police constable

March 20^th, 8.05 am

Sundara Vadivel was traveling to Nechikuppam to hand over some important documents to an inspector there. This was not his routine job but there was nobody to do this today and hence he boarded 9096. He seated himself comfortably and started reading a daily. As he folded his paper, he saw a man, clad in a grey shirt and pant, going past him. He understood that the man was worried about something from his looks. After drinking a cup of tea he bought from one of the train vendors, Sundar rose to visit the restroom. He couldn’t stand the toilet stench but somehow managed to empty his bladder. As he zipped his pant and came out, he saw the man in grey shirt running towards the exit door. The people behind him were shouting ‘Thief, thief, catch him’. Sundar was pretty agile and threw his stick in the path of the running man when he neared him. The man stumbled upon the stick and fell down to the floor. The fall was horrible and the pain was excruciating. Sundar picked his handcuffs and tied the man before he could escape. With one of the hand cuffs’ links tied to his hand, Sundar moved the man back to where he was seated. He gave away the moneybag to the lady and received her thanks with a broad smile.

He had to lock the guy though the crime didn’t happen under his jurisdiction as this was a day light robbery. Sundar wondered why people involved themselves in these activities and at the same time thought he would be jobless if no one committed any crime. As he saw the relieved face of the lady, he laid back and closed his eyes.

Chaturvasi – Retired English lecturer

March 21^st, 7.10 am

Chaturvasi was an expert on word play. He always had the feeling that humans were more complex than words. During his lecture days, he would tell his students that even names like Combernoux, Lebowski and Llewellyn weren’t complex but the people who pronounced these made them look so.

Anagrammatizing Eva Gear to Average, Clean Veer to Relevance and thinking of the words abracadabra, preponderancy and verisimilitude, he smeared his forehead with some sacred ash, went to his balcony and unfolded his easy chair. As he savored his strong, sugar-less, morning coffee, he read the headline of the daily “The Newsking”.

TRAIN 9096 DERAILED. NO SURVIVORS. 136 VICTIMS IDENTIFIED.

The End