A Breed of Counterfeits

Chapter 10: Fahim

'A learned fool is more a fool than an ignorant fool.'

- Moilere

The local slowly came to a halt, and even before it did that, people started jumping off, which was the usual Mumbai-kar standard process of disembarking a train. Fahim followed the crowd and got down, almost jumping on the platform, stumbling, balancing himself, holding his Gucci bag, and walking towards the exit.

Andheri station was always crowded at this hour with people coming back from offices, rushing to go home. In the morning, they couldn't wait to get to their offices and workplaces, and in the evening, they couldn't wait to go home and, in the process, create a rush - one of the world's most crowded platforms - probably after CSMT station. So many people live like insects here.

On the other hand, even though they have a population problem in China, their government has provided them with all the facilities. They have bullet trains, top-notch infrastructure, and people have all kinds of means to keep them comfortable. Why can't our government build a bullet train in India? Oh, wait. They are building a temple over a demolished mosque, that ought to keep people happy. These days Fahim compared everything with China. Probably because he had good job prospects over there or maybe because he was convincing himself or rather selling himself the idea of China being better than India. The country which would define his future and would be the path to his dreams was tempting him with every passing day than his present country.

It would be one of the many countries he would travel to. He imagined his old age when he would tell his grandkids sitting on a plush sofa in a large mansion somewhere in an expensive city about how he started his journey from Mumbai's crowded stations and came where he was. How he slogged at work and jumped at every opportunity life presented to him and how he made the most of it. He would be an emblem of his family, the first to instigate success in his children's genes. His and Sana's children.

Fahim walked out of Andheri station and went to McDonald's, saw an empty chair, and occupied it. He fished his phone from the pocket of his Arrow trouser. The four-year-old phone showed three missed calls and two text messages. Suraj - the new guy from his office - had called him twice, and Sana had called him once. One text was from Suraj - 'Please call whenever you are free, Fahim sir.' and the other was from Nadeem - 'I'll be near McDonald's by 8 pm.' He still had an hour before Nadeem came. He thought of calling Suraj, but he knew Suraj would eat up at least half an hour, and Sana could come at any minute. Plus, it was after work hours, so work can wait.

He had planned to meet Sana today a week ago when Nadeem had texted him about his room partner's birthday. Fahim had convinced Sana to come to Andheri and meet him, after which he would be going with Nadeem. Sana didn't mind traveling, but she hated it when she had to travel for 2 hours to meet for an hour, and most of their meetings these days ended arguing with each other.

Fahim walked in the McDonalds, got a large diet coke, and sat on a bench from where the entrance door was visible. He settled down and pulled out his laptop from his Gucci bag and checked for any mails, but there were none - he had checked his mail just before he got down from the local but sitting in a public place without looking rich and busy was a crime, according to Fahim. He had this constant urge to stay busy all the time, be it for irrelevant reasons; he had to look busy. Plus, he had a fancy laptop with a fancy logo to show off. He pretended to scroll for some time. He got a few looks from a couple of girls sitting to his right. Fahim noticed it and sat up straight and pretended to read intensely. One of the girls from the group was prettier than the rest, but all Fahim could see was slightly exposed cleavage. While checking her out, he noticed that the cute girl was using the latest phone launched a week back. He had seen one in the local just last week. Funny how little girls can afford the phone, but he can't. He placed his tiny specs over his large head and went back, pretending to be busy on his laptop.