The First Trillionaire

Untitled Part 11

The two old school friends sat quietly after that, reflecting on how lovely the past had been, and how life throws wrenches sometimes. Sachidanand stayed with her for a while before quietly excusing himself and went away.

Shail discovers Facebook

More than thousand miles away, sitting on her berth, Shail kept herself busy with her mobile phone, her newfound fascination. She had had a light meal; but before that she called her mother, not wanting to wait till the next station to get a steady signal. Her nerves calmed down upon hearing her mother's voice, which was soothing. And after fielding the volley of questions from her mother, she decided that she had to be strong and give her mother no worries now that she was going to be a working woman.

Shail looked at the only group page present on her profile. She felt happy and contented to see the familiar Durga Mandir she had visited since her childhood. She smiled and comfortably lay down, running her fingers on the edges of the sleek and shiny black Samsung phone. It was her new phone; the first one ever.

The train rocked gently as if swaying to the rhythmic movements of its engine, which lulled Shail to sleep. No sound reached her ears and no sight managed to open her sleeping eyes as she laid covering up to her neck and holding the black phone inside the cover with one hand clutched to her.

"Chai le lo, chai! Red tea, milk tea, lemon tea Sir! Chai! Chai, le lo!" The piercing voices jerked Shail out of her sleep, and she wrenched her eyes open. She looked at the mobile. It said 6.40 a.m. She propped herself up on her elbow to look at her neighbour who was fast asleep with his mobile on his chest. With every sway of the train, Shail felt that the mobile would slide off his chest and smash on the floor.

"Madam, chai! Red tea, milk tea, lemon tea Madam!" Someone was looking at her with a tray full of paper cups on it.

"After few minutes, bhaiyya ji. How long will it take to reach Mumbai now?" Shail asked him, getting up.

"Didi, one more station and after that Mumbai. What would you prefer to have didi ji? Milk tea, lemon tea or red tea?" he asked, eager to sell a cup and lifted a kettle ready with one hand, waiting for Shail.

"Lemon tea, then." Shail thought to try it although she would have preferred to freshen up first.

Sipping the lemon tea, Shail opened her Facebook page again, eagerly hoping for something new. And there was. She had a notification this time.

"Wow! What is it? Let me see what's going on?" She tried to see what it was about but it was slow due to the 'hide-and–seek' game of the network. Finally, she saw it after few minutes.

A 'Like' from DGP Sachidanand Singh on my group page, and he has sent a friend request too. Immediately, she began to check his profile as taught by her Facebook-guru and new friend, Gaurav ji.

She did not find any reason to reject or block him. He seemed like a respectable, elderly gentleman and she saw that he had studied at Nature's Heart School, just like her parents. She couldn't tell whether it was a coincidence or something else. She decided to accept it, telling herself that she had no reason to mistrust him right now.

"Good morning. You are up early? Do you know where have we reached?" Gaurav asked, stretching himself like a cat on the narrow berth.

"One station after this and we will reach Mumbai," Shail replied without looking at him.

Gaurav jumped from his berth and moved towards the toilet. When he returned, Shail was still busy on her phone and did not look at him. He had got a cup of tea for himself which he sipped looking out of the window. He looked at Vanashree, her hair had come loose from its place and she looked like a bird with ruffled feathers on a rainy day, he thought and smiled.