Glimpses revisited...

Since October 1st, 2005, I have been to the following places(in the order of visiting them)
Mumbai
Ahmedabad
Jodhpur
Ajmer
Chennai
Delhi
Pune

Going to Bangalore this weekend. I have not spent too much time at any of these places but have managed to collect and collate some snippets from these journeys

I am going to Mumbai Central to take a train to Jodhpur and I notice a couple standing diagonally opposite to me. Seemed like a newly married couple with the woman wearing the sindoor and the works. At first glance there was nothing conspicuous about them. They both stood there with their arms folded. However, after a while I noticed a furtive movement in their direction. When I looked it seemed like nothing had happened. This time I decided to watch and I saw the man under the guise of folded hands trying to feel his wife up from the side. Immediately she rebuked him inorder to end his lascivious intentions. However the man did not seem to be in a mood to listen and tried it again after a while and she reacted similarly and suddenly she looked up and our eyes locked for a second. I do not know who was more embarrassed-she or me.

I am back from Delhi and now waiting at the Vile Parle station, sitting on a bench for a train headed in the direction of Mumbai CST when a man slips beside me. Here is the translation of entire conversation we had-
"Hello sir! I am Maninder. You don't mind if I speak to you for some time. I shook my head to say fine, go on. Bad times these are, aren't they? I am a Sikh from Amritsar. Do you know where Amritsar is? Its in Punjab. Sir my life has been very tragic. You see I was to get married to this girl-everybody told me she is very nice and beautiful but after I got married to her, I realized that she is addled in the head and has some mental problems( the exact words he used were- Dimaag se paidal hain!) However I did not give up on her. Our public gurudwara has a very good doctor and I took her there and I spent lakhs of money on her treatment. After a prolonged period she became better. Now her parents have come and taken her away-after I spent so much on her. They say that the only way they will send her back is if I transfer all my assets in her name. I am very distressed by this. I don't mind doing this but I am not able to make up my mind. Can you please help me out by suggesting what I should do?"

My train pulls in to the station and I tell him that I will have to go. He seemed like a fair guy except that his breath was reeking of alcohol.