A Stroll

I don't think you'll believe me, I don't think anybody will believe me when I narrate this incident. But of course that will not stop me from saying what I am going to say.

This happened on Saturday, 3 rd February. I think I'll remember this date forever. That night, I was going home after finishing my work. I (used to) work in a Garment factory. My sahib asked me to clean his cabin. He said it would take at least 4 hours to finish it. Which meant I could go home only after 10 PM. The place was full of old papers and dust. As expected he left after 6 PM asking me to complete the dirty job. By the time I finished the godforsaken work it was almost 11 PM. Okay, let me come back to the incident that happened on that night. Oh by the way I forgot to mention my name – people call me Ram. I was found in a Chawl 19 years back, in front of a film poster -"Ram ka Bhai Lakhan". I think that's how I got my name. On Saturday, I was on my way to my chawl. A walk at this time works out to be uneventful but very satisfying. You know, I like the city’s weather in February. The mild chillness in the air, trees swaying lightly, stars winking down at earth, dogs howling somewhere near a park, all these things make me feel happy. Sorry, I digress.

Well, after passing the bus stop, I took another gulli, (which has only garbage thrown here and there). I usually don't take this route, but that night I just felt like meeting an old friend of mine. Moti. He is a stray dog. He has big brown eyes and eats whatever I feed him. I wanted to take a stroll with him. I had just reached the first pile of garbage when I saw people running towards me. I think they were all hiding behind a pillar. They were four of them. One guy had a knife. It shone bright. Then suddenly the guy with the knife growled- "Give me all the money you have. Watch, Chain, everything. NOW". I tried telling them – "I have no money, no watch, no chain. I am a poor guy who serves coffee and chai in that big factory. Please let me go". I pleaded. They refused to hear me out. I wriggled and tried to run away. They hit me hard and punched me on my stomach. I thought, like in movies, I can fight them. I tried kicking that goon who had the knife. He looked furious and swiped his knife on my neck.

That is all I can remember. I saw darkness after that. I could hear nothing. I seemed to have regained my conscious after a long time. Sometime back I tried crying and shouting. Looks like nobody can hear me. Right now I can see my body lying across the street where the garbage is still not cleared. On the other side of the gulli, I am sitting next to Moti. He somehow managed to find me here. All these years I thought Spirits and, forgive me for using this word, Ghosts were found in books and movies. Now I know and believe.