The Story of Ruby

I am working as a Geologist is Geology Section. One day my Boss called me and handed over me a Letter from the District Magistrate. The letter showed that the District Administration had opened a new Development Office in the interiors at a placed called Ratara which is located at Himalayan Foothills.. The Block Development Officer posted there had reported that people living in the mountains there use a strange kind of liquid oozing out from the rocks as fuel. The BDO suspected it to be petroleum and had informed the DM about this. The DM referred the matter to our Department for further investigation.

“I think you can leave for Ratara for submitting the First Hand Report. You can take one or two persons with you and bring the samples etc. for testing”, My boss said.

“How far is this place from here”, I asked.

“Its about 500 Miles deep in the interiors. A Bus goes from this place at 0500 am in the morning and will leave you at a place called Umra by 11:00 am. From there, you will get a train in the afternoon which will drop you at Ratara at 0700 am ,the next morning. Once you reach Ratara, the BDO will take care of you people. So, I think you can move in a day or two”.

“We will move day-after-tomorrow. I will take Dinesh with me. We will now collect the instruments etc. and check them by tomorrow”, I said.

“Its fine. I will now inform your programme to the DM so that they can make the arrangements”, My Boss said.

I informed my colleague Dinesh about the trip. On hearing this, he started making a list of items which we had to take along with us. The next day we collected all these items ,cleaned and checked them. By evening we were ready to board the bus, the next day.

We boarded the Bus on the next morning. The Bus was half empty and we had full seats at our disposal. The Bus moved on to the Highway for some time and then turned to take a small road. As the bus moved, the human civilization started getting fading away and the nature’s civilization started taking its place. By 0900 am, the Bus was moving on a dusty road but the view of nature was simply magnificent. We could now see the Himalayas at the horizon and I thought it is going to be a simply wonderful trip.

At 1100 am or so, we reached Umra and the bus stopped at the Railway Station. The Railway Station was small and had a single Platform. On the other side, there were fields. We waited on the platform for about an hour and then a train driven by steam locomotive came. It had about four old compartments which were in bad shape. The train was somewhat part full and part empty. We boarded the compartment which was in our front and Dinesh could find an empty berth. He climbed on it with the luggage. I could not find a seat in that compartment so I looked for one in the next and found one. I got down from the train and informed Dinesh that I am in the next compartment and as soon as any seat gets vacated in his compartment, he should inform me so that I can join him.

After a few minutes the train started moving and I could see it was taking the route towards the mountains. By this time, we were completely in the interiors with no sign whatsoever of human civilization we left behind.

The weather was pleasant and the sky was covered with raining clouds. The wind was cool with occasional rain drops. I was sitting at the window. I kept on enjoying the weather, cold air and rain drops for about half-an-hour with my eyes closed. When I opened my eyes and looked around the compartment, I saw something strange.

Just across one cubicle away, I saw a lady sitting in the middle seat and was looking at me with a very familiar smile on her face. Her smile was like that she knew me since a long time. I had never seen anyone near & dear to me ever giving such a familiar smile.

I got a bit puzzled as I had never seen her before and in nervousness, I turned my eyes somewhere else. After a few moments, I looked at her again and found that she was again smiling at me with her typical smile. I again turned my eyes elsewhere. But I felt seeing her again and again and everytime I looked at her I saw her smiling at me with her familiar smile.

After a while, she stopped smiling at kept her face away from me. I looked at her from top to below. She was about 20-22 years of age , was wearing a red saaree with black dots. Her hair were half cut and were making a perfect alignment with her chin. Her eyes were sharp and were full of affection. The nose was clear with beautiful lips. She had perfect teeth which along with her lips were making a perfect combination. When I was examining her, she was aware that I was looking at her but she let me see her completely.

My this encounter with her continued for about hour or so. The people around were completely oblivious of the two of us. After sometime, I started a strong desire for talking to her. May be she understood this or by sheer accident, she stood from her seat and started moving. While she moved, I felt that her body was made of mathematical precision and she had a perfect walk. She went to the Door opposite to my seat and stood there. I thought this was the best time to talk to her. After a while, I stood up and started moving towards her. She was fully aware that I was coming towards her. When I reached near her, I got a bit nervous and instead of standing at the door, I preferred to go inside the toilet. I lighted a cigarette in the toilet to gain some strength and after finishing it, I came out and saw that she was still standing at the door and looking outside. I moved ahead and stood silently beside her. It was raining outside and the wind blowing was awful. I collected all of my strength and said “The weather is so pleasant.”.

“Yes”, she said without looking at me.

“Where are you going”, I asked her.

She just smiled but did not give any reply.

“When will this train reach Ratara”, I asked her

“Ratara?? Tomorrow morning”, she said.

“Are you also going to Ratara”, I asked

She simply smiled.

I don’t know how long I talked to her like this. For some of my questions, she replied and for some she simply smiled. Then came a station and I was feeling for a cup of Tea. A saw a Tea-vendor standing at the Platform.

“Can we have a cup of tea together”, I asked her.

“I don’t take tea, but OK”, she said and both of got done from the train.

While sipping the tea, I asked her “What is your name, if you don’t mind”.

She gave a big smile and said”No, not at all. My name is Ruby”.

I couldnt think of a better name for her.

“By the way, my name is Sunil”, I said. She heard my name but whether he cared about it or not I couldn’t make out.

I paid for the tea and turned back. To my horror, I found that the train had already left and we were stranded at the station.

“Oh my God, Ruby, the train has left”, I said.

“What? The train has left? What do we do know”, she said.

“I don’t know what to do?? I am new to this place’, I said

We kept on thinking for a while what to do next.

“Ok’, I said. “Lets go to the station-master and tell him our plight”.

We went to SM’s office and told him our story.

“The next train will be tomorrow only”, the station master said,’and there is no other means to reach Ratara from here except this train”.

I said,”Sir, in that case, we have to spend the night here only. Can you tell us some place, some hotel where we can spend the night safely”.

“No hotel here. But If you want, you can stay in the rest-room which is on top of this office. Tomorrow I will make you board the train”, SM said.

“Very kind of you Sir”, I said.

“This is the key. You can go up now’, SM gave us the key.

“Sir, one more favour. Can you inform Ratara Station that I have missed the train here so that they can inform my friend who is in the train. Otherwise, he will get worried”.

“OK I will do that.No problem”. SM said.

We went up and opened the room. The room was just ok. It had two beds with mosquito nets on. There were two chairs and a table. There were large windows overlooking the fields.

We went inside the room and I locked the door from inside. The sun had set and the night was falling.

Ruby moved towards the windows and started looking outside. I also walked upto her. I was enjoying each and every moment with her and was getting feeling that may our this meeting continue forever. Later on, the waiter brought some food which was barely sufficient for one person. I was hungry so I started eating straightway. After I finished my food, I saw that she had barely eaten anything.

“You have not taken anything, better eat something”, I said

“I am not hungry. You better finish off this one also”, she said.

“No you better take it. If you don’t feel eating now, eat after some time”, I said.

“I am now falling asleep”, she said and went inside the mosquito net of the bed which was farther to us.

I sat on the chair and kept on looking at her through the mosquito net. I was praying to God and since now He has made us meet, let Him not separate us now. I slept on the chair and was woken up by her, the next morning.

“Oh you are sleeping on this chair only”,she said,”Get up, its now 11’o clock”.

I looked at her, She had taken bath and was looking as fresh as a flower.

“Oh, I am sorry”, I got up.

I also took the bath, and we sat at the windows and kept on talking for hours together.

There was a knock at the door and the waiter was standing outside.

“Its 3 pm Sir. Your train is about to come. SM Sahib has asked you to come down”. The waiter said.

We stood up and came to the Platform. There were a few people on the Platform who wanted to board the same train. After a while, the train came. It was run by steam locomotive and four five old compartments. As the train stopped, there was a scramble for getting inside.

“Come-on Ruby or we will miss the train again”, I yelled and pulled her towards me.

I got inside the train but Ruby was still trying to get on.

“Go and look for the seats”, she said to me, “I will just come up”.

I went inside the compartment and found two adjacent vacant seats. I sat on one of them and then waited for her.

The train started and people who boarded the train started taking their seats. But Ruby did not come. “May be she will be coming”, I thought. But when she did not come for quite some time, I stood up and started looking for her. I looked into the whole compartment, she was not there. I looked at each and every berth, still she was not there.

“May be she has boarded some other compartment because of the rush. Let me check at the next station.”, I told myself.

When the train stopped at the next station, I quickly got down and ran through all the compartments to look for her, She was nowhere. The train gave the whistle and I quickly boarded my compartment. I could not find Ruby anywhere. Where has she gone. No, she was not on the train, I had checked up completely. Then the thought struck my mind, ” May be she has missed the train again”

It was 8 pm in the night and the train stopped at one station. Some person at the platform was announcing that the train will stop here for 45 minutes and those who wanted to have dinner or water can have from here. Thereafter, train will be climbing the mountains and will not stop anywhere till Ratara.

I got down and searched each and every compartment again, each seat, each berth, Ruby was not there. By now, my fear was turning into the reality that she has indeed missed the train again.

I came to my seat and sat down in disgust. I started cursing myself that why did I ask her to get down at that station for a cup of tea. She has missed the train again. She will be alone at the station now, where will she go? Will she be safe?? I was not able to think anything but kept on cursing myself. There was no way I could go back to find or help her.

Having accepted the fate, I started missing her. I started remembering each and every moment I spent with her. Her face, her smile, her talking. I thought, this is the end of my life and did not wish to live anymore. I am not going to meet her again and I did not want to live a life without her.

I slept on my seat thinking about her and got up after an hour or so. Somehow, I found myself to be more balanced now. Perhaps I had accepted her loss. I stood up and went to the toilet for lighting a cigarette. I started preparing myself for a life without her.

When I came out of the toilet, the train was passing through a river-bridge and was shaking a lot so I stood at the toilet’s door. When the river passed, I moved ahead and then I saw something for which I felt like screaming with joy. There she was. She was standing on the door right in front of me. She did not notice me. I found her to be sad and lonely. And that sadness and loneliness was for me, I thought. I thanked God that I have found her again and now decided that come what may, I will not let her go.

I moved slowly towards her to give a kiss on her cheeks. She was not aware that I was moving towards her. The moment my lips were to touch her cheeks, somebody pulled me from behind and slammed the door.

“Do you want to die man?”, the man behind me shouted.

I noticed that he had closed the door where Ruby was standing.

“You fool, you have killed that lady, she has fallen down”, I shouted at him.

“Which lady?”, he shot back.

“The one was standing at the door right now. She was my friend Ruby. Ruby ,my friend, my friend was standing at the door. Pull the chain and stop the train”, I jumped towards the alarm-chain to pull it.

“Don’t stop the train here, you fool, this is a dangerous place”, that man shouted and pulled me back again.

We started shouting at each other. All people in the compartment gathered around us. I insisted that Ruby was standing at the door and he kept on denying it. Feeling helpless, I started crying,” Ruby, Ruby” thinking that I have lost her again and this time she has died.

The man who had pulled me said to others,” This man was about to fall off from the train. I saved his life. He says there was a woman standing at the door. Did anybody see her. Did you see her??”, he asked a old man who was sitting just in front of the door.

“No I did not see any woman. I only saw this man moving towards the door and you pulled him back.Otherwise he would have fallen down”.Old man said.

“How can that be possible??”, I said to the people,”Ruby was standing just out there. I cant be mistaken. Look, I am not drunk either”, I opened my mouth.

There was a pindrop silence. Nobody could perhaps understand what was going on. Then the man who had pulled me thought of something, put one of his hands on my shoulder and asked ”who are you and what are you doing here?”.

I narrated my story and that of Ruby-how I met her, how we missed the train, how I was looking for her today in the train and how I found her at the door.

The people kept on listening to my story with awe and with eyes wide open. When I finished my story, they just spread away without saying anything.

“Look, my name is Irsha. I am an engineer at Railways. Can we talk for a moment”, the man who had pulled me asked me.

“Ok, fine”, I said. I still had tears in my eyes for Ruby.

“Come here, above, on to my berth”, he said and climbed on the berth above. I followed him.

He opened his bag and took out one bottle.”Want to have some drink”, he asked.

“Oh yes, sure, please,please”, I said.

We sipped the drink. He remained silent for some moments and then said,”To my knowledge, this has happened twice before, that’s what I know—one when I joined here about fifteen years back and second about five six years back”

“What happened”, I asked.

“The dead-bodies of two strangers were found at the same place where I pulled you inside. Just after that River Bridge. Both of them had fallen from the running train. “There were no clues whatsoever how did they fall down”, he said.

“I see. Then?”, I asked.

“Their deaths still remains a mystery. But the local people here believe that this was the handiwork of a spirit”, he said.

“ a essspiirit. you mean a Rooh????” I asked in amazement.

“Yes. A Rooh. And the strange thing is that those strangers also missed the train at the very same station where you say you missed it”.

“And if you say that was because of a lady called Ruby, then my dear, I feel that Ruby was nothing but that Rooh”., he continued.

“Today, may be it was your turn. But luckily you escaped”, He said sipping his drink,”That’s what I can say”.

I felt my whole body shivering and my throat was drying.”You mean to say that Rooh wanted to take my life and that Ruby, Ruby was that Rooh. How can that be???”, I asked in bewilderment.

“I don’t know. I have told you what I know. May be there are somethings for which we can think but may never know” he said.

”Look I am going to sleep now. You are disturbed, you sleep here on my berth. I will sleep somewhere else. But mind it, if you love your life don’t go towards the door for that Ruby. You may not be lucky second time, if all what I said was true”, and he climbed down.

“No,no. I am not a fool. Believe me, I will not get down from this berth even.” I said.

“But by the way, how can be sure that Ruby was a Rooh”,I asked.

“My friend,it is simple. If she was real, her dead-body will be found tomorrow. In that case, you can get me hanged. If her body is not found, then thank me that I saved your life”, He said with a simle and went.

I lay down on the berth and started thinking about Ruby. Was she really a spirit as this man was saying?? May be yes otherwise what a modern lady like her was doing in this backward place?? And now I could understand, why people did not take notice of us when we were standing and talking at the door, on the platform etc. Why the Station-master did not enquire who the lady along with me was and simply handed over me the key of the rest-room. Why the waiter brought food for one person only.

That means she was visible only to me and not to others. This man is correct. She was really a spirit and has taken two lives and now she wanted to take my life.

The death had passed so nearly that it had almost touched me, I thought. I could feel my body shivering badly.

I don’t know when did I sleep thinking all this. I was woken up by someone and found Dinesh was standing there. “What happened Boss? Missed the train?? Why the hell did you get down from it”, he asked.

“How do you know”, I asked.

“I reached here yesterday. The BDO had come to receive us. We found you were not in the train. We couldn’t make out anything so we went to the station master and he told us that you have missed the train at that station and will be coming today”, Dinesh Said,”Let us go to the SM and inform him that you have reached safely”.

We went to SM’s office and informed him that I have reached safely.

“By the way Sir, what did that SM convey to you”, I asked SM, “whether I was alone or there was some other passenger also”.

“He told me about one passenger only, why?”, the SM said.

“No ,nothing” I got up with a heavy breath. My hand went inside my pocket to look for a cigarette.

Dinesh and I moved outside. The BDO was there to receive us.