The Unforgettable Journey

I jumped into the first coach of the train. My
friends, Raman and Shyam, followed me into the
compartment. I heaved a sigh of relief, when
I saw they were safe. But the relief was shortlived.
For, I was shocked to see Mr. Khanna, a
Travelling Ticket Examiner, enter the coach from
the other end.
"Where the hell is he coming from?" whispered
Raman.
"Only he can answer that," replied Shyam,
looking at the fast receding platform.
"No use peeping out, Shyam! The train has
picked up speed. Let's not try to jump," I said.
"He must have seen us boarding this coach,"
said Shyam.
"I'm sure, he did. But he was nowhere on the
platform. Where has he appeared from?" asked
Raman.
"We saved our fare this morning, Raman. But
now we may have to shell out that too, as
penalty," I said.
"What bad luck!" commented Raman.
In the meantime, the T.T.E. had started ex-
amining the passengers tickets.
"Look! He is coming towards us. Let's make
sad faces, and try to win his sympathy,' I suggested.
It did not take long for Mr. Khanna to check
the other passengers tickets and come to us.
"Show me your tickets, boys," he said.
"Sorry Sir! They fell out of my pocket, while
I was boarding the train," I said.
"Yes, Sir, he had my ticket too. See, my pockets
are torn." Shyam showed him his torn pockets.
"I too gave him my ticket. I don't have pockets,"
Raman put in.
"Are you sure, boys, you bought the tickets
and lost them?"
"Certainly, Sir, we never tell lies," I answered
for all of us.
"Except to the T.T.E., particularly when he
checks your tickets," added Mr. Khanna.
"No, Sir, we are telling the truth. We are all
telling the truth. We have really lost our tickets,"
I said.
"Whenever I've checked, you haven't shown
your tickets. Why?" asked Mr. Khanna in disgust.
"Because, Sir, we are only children. We lose
tickets easily," I tried to smile bravely.
"Oh! is that so? I will teach you a lesson. It will
help you to keep your tickets safe," Mr. Khanna
shouted angrily. "Now all three of you go to that

comer and sit there."
I was accustomed to this drama. Not once or
twice, but a number of times Mr. Khanna had
caught us. He would always ask us to sit in a corner.
Then he would threaten to penalise us for
ticketless travelling. And as Rajapur station approached,
he would say, "Look, boys, it is not
good to travel like this. Why don't you buy tickets?
Now the next time, I find you without tickets,
I will have all of you sent to jail. I am leaving
you this time. But, next time, I won't. He
then let us go. I was confident that this time, too,
Mr. Khanna would permit us to get out at the
outer signal of Rajapur. But, he didn't. He kept
quiet, while the train crossed the Rajapur outer
signal. I felt restless and tried to get up.
"Sit down!'' shouted Mr. Khanna. "Don't move
from there. Give me your father's name and address."
"Please, Sir," I pleaded, "pardon us this time.
This is the last time. We will never again travel
without tickets. I will see that we buy tickets and
keep them safe."
"Please excuse us, Sir," Shyam said in a choked
voice.
The train had by then reached Rajapur and we
were afraid it would start moving shortly. "Please
allow us to go, Sir," I pleaded.
But Mr. Khanna was adamant. He took down
our addresses and then turning to the other passengers,
he said, "Please keep an eye on these
boys till I return."' He got out of the compartment.
We saw him talking to the Station Master,
who looked in our direction and nodded to whatever
Mr. Khanna was telling him.
A cold fear gripped us. Our pleading, assurances,
nothing seemed to make Mr. Khanna relent.
The other passengers, who were earlier supporting
him, started pleading for our release. But
Mr. Khanna didn't budge.
In the meantime, the train reached Ram Nagar.
He ordered us to get down. We got down from
the train and followed Mr. Khanna out of the station.
I was, by now, very apprehensive. Raman
and Shyam were anxious, too.
After walking for a mile or so, we reached a
house. Mr. Khamia took us inside.
There, in the dim light of a lantern, I could see
someone sitting on a cot. He seemed to be a
grown-up man, but there was something abnormal
about him.
"Raj," said Mr. Khanna, addressing him, "Get
up, will you?"
Raj tried to stand up, but was finding it difficult.
It was then I noticed that Raj had no legs.
"All right, all right," said Mr. Khanna. "Relax,
take it easy." Turning to us, he said, "Well, have
you seen him?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Now, tell me, do you also want to lose your
legs like him?" Mr. Khanna asked with a penetrating
look.
"No. . . . " we all cried in one voice. The very
thought of not having legs made me feel sick. My
heart sank. Shyam whispered, "Does this demon
want to cut our legs?" I was badly shaken but
tried to think of some way of escaping from the
house.
"Look, boys," Mr. Khanna broke in on my
thoughts, "for quite some time, I wanted to bring
all of you here to meet Raj, to see for yourselves
the hazards of ticketless travelling."
My heart started beating faster. Could what
Shyam had whispered be true? Right then, I
heard footsteps behind us. I was afraid to turn
round to see who was approaching. I wondered
if Mr. Khanna was a maniac, and had kept men
to cut off people's legs for travelling without
tickets.
The person who was coming from behind
seemed to have come close to us. I looked at
Shyam and Raman. They, too, wTere sweating
with fear.
"Enough." said! a woman's voice behind me.
"They are already very shaken. Let me talk to
them."
She introduced herself as Mrs. Khanna. She
had a soft voice. "You saw Raj, boys. When he
was young, he was just like you. He would travel
without a ticket and was very happy about it. But
once, when he was boarding a train. . . . "
Raj, suddenly, stopped her. He raised his head
and looked straight at us. In a choked voice, he
said, "It was great fun to travel without tickets.
The money I thus saved was spent on movies
and sweets. But then one day, there was a surprise
check and I tried to jump off the moving
train. I fell between the bogie and the signal post.
My legs were caught between the wheels." He
couldn't speak further, but pointed towards his
legs.
I was jolted back to reality by Mrs. Khanna's
soothing voice. "Now sit down, boys. Here's coffee
for all of you."
Mr. Khanna added, "Yes, and you will stay
with us tonight. I have already sent messages to
your parents through the Station Master at Rajapur.
They will not worry about you. Tomorrow
morning, you can go back. I will buy tickets for
your return journey. I wanted you to see for yourselves
the consequence of ticketless travelling."
That evening we realised our mistake. We
developed a great respect and affection for Mr.
Khanna. He had shown us the right path, with
rare understanding.