LOVE FOR ‘SAMOSAS’

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The man somehow managed to get inside the train and propelled his fragile and old palm to catch hold of his beloved’s hand who was struggling in the crowd to board it. Their son was already making efforts by shoving the few young passengers who were not letting his parents get up on the train.

The old couple was going to the lady’s hometown, which would be a three-hour journey by train and almost seven hours by car. They insisted on choosing the train despite several arguments with the son, who strongly opinionated to travel by car because of their advancing age. But after many heated debates, the couple won stating they wanted to relive the past days for the last time as they assumed it would be impossible in the future because of their failing health and that now, they could manage themselves considerably.

The worried son waved at his parents as a gesture of a pleasant journey while the gleaming parents reciprocated him with a higher spirit and happiness. Theirs was a sitting journey; the lady sat near the window and the man near her, laughing and talking in excitement. They passed several villages and stations, admiring nature and the view they saw through the train’s window, sometimes reminiscing their youthful past and romantic endeavors. The co-passengers were humble and the old man chatted with them in zeal.

The train had arrived at a station. It was a place for which the couple had been waiting for the last one and a half hours. It was a small town famous for its ‘samosas’ (the small triangular pastry filled with vegetables, fried in oil or ghee). The lady had a great affinity for them. Instead of buying from the roaming vendor inside the train, the man decided to buy it from a shop where it was freshly fried and would be piping hot. It was a ritual he had followed in his yore days and still assumed a similar vigor inside him. Without thinking much, he alighted from the train and hurried to the shop, almost 500 meters from the stationed train. His weak legs would not support a power march but his enthusiasm kicked him to the destination.

The shopkeeper was busy and flooded with customers. But upon repeated insistence from the senior citizen, he provided a samosa with chutney on a paper plate. The man unable to halt his temptation, started eating it with a satiated expression ignoring the place and time. He ordered another one as he finished eating it and, asked the shopkeeper to pack two samosas with chutney for his wife. The samosas were hot so they took their own time of consumption.

‘Chacha, train chal padi. Bhagie.’ The shopkeeper cried out.

His wife who had been keeping track of her husband from the window of the train, shouted with a force that might damage her vocal cords.

The old man was left flabbergasted. He threw his paper plate with the half-eaten samosa and clutched the small packet of packed samosas for his wife. He flung a hundred rupees note on the samosa ‘thela’ without even asking the price and forced himself to run for the train. But to his dismay, the old frangible joints would not allow him. Somehow, he managed to hold the train but due to its speed, he could not board it rather, he got pushed onto the ground with a huge thump breaking the bones of his right leg.

The wife was howling and screaming at the top of her voice for this unfortunate incident. She lost her sanity for some time before she fainted. The man was picked up by the station master who arranged a doctor, also, the co-passengers informed the TT about the old lady’s mishap. The son had to rush to the hospital where his father was admitted while the mother reached her hometown station where her relatives had arrived to pick her up.

The son saw his father in a very miserable state partially packed inside bandages. Suddenly, he noticed a small packet being clutched firmly by his father while he whined in pain.  He enquired suspiciously, ‘Papa, ye kya hai?’

The old man wailed and murmured, ‘Beta, samosas for your mothe

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