It wasn't a happy
day for Stick. He was tired with his family's outing with his uncles family.
But he knew this was just a courtesy returned. His family had been to
Aurangabad many times and they had taken them around each time. Showing the
sights and eating out and all that relatives did before Airbnb arrived. For
Stick it still hadn't.
Stick was for Tig. Tig was for Tigmanshu. They use to tease
him by saying Tigmanshu from Dhulia. But thankfully his east Indian neighbours
had renamed him Stick by then. That he was thin helped.
Today he had a vomit inducing slow boat ride to Elephanta
caves. Had his vada pav snatched away by a monkey, head tapped by another one
and bottle stolen by another one. He hadn't taken a day off work for this. He
went down to the jetty and waited for his parents and the Aurangabadkars to
return.
They sauntered down by 6 and it was already dark. The
gathering clouds made people uneasy and the boat was far more crowded on the
return journey. He overheard one of the passengers saying the next one was
canceled and this was the last one. Stick managed to get a window only to have
his guests youngest son take his place. He grumbled more at his parents and
whispered in his mothers ear that if i vomit on someone here it will be your
fault.
The journey was much faster and there was less roll or yaw.
Even the diesel fume was being carried away by a breeze. The golden sunset was
covering about everything and Stick saw the Gateway go up up up. And higher. He
looked down just to see the water hit his face and the next second he was able
to see people frantically floating in the water. Only a few. And funnily enough
to he was on the seat he had vacated. Panic was just setting in.
Arms flailing the jumped out of the water into the water
and then remembered that he didn't know how to swim. There was a guy who was
doing something and moving up. Trying to catch his foot, Stick failed. He
didn't see the orange buoy that had magically been around him. How it got there
he had no idea. But it wasn't taking him up. He couldn't see anyone anymore. Be
he could see a rope that had tethered the buoy to the boat. Stick used to rope
to reach the boat a few meters away and loosened the rope. As he was doing that
he realised he has sunk further than most as he was stuck to the boat.
Suddenly, there was light coming from the top. Mostly the surface and as he
started going up, he was close to passing out and saw the bottom. And there he
saw something. Something he would never forget.
It was a mess. Over 25 drowned but not one of Stick's party
of 7 were lost or even injured. He was the only one who needed some medical
attention. Aurangabadkar senior had even displayed his rural chops
by heroically saving all of them and a couple of other people. Photo came
in Midday and all papers except the times of India group. He took it
personally.
Something like this shakes up a city and no one more than
the people who were involved. The city paid homage to the dead. The payout was
announced. That seemed enough these days no one really expects it to be
paid. Over the next week or so people went back to the routine. The boat
operators license was canceled for overloading the boat and a criminal case was
filed against him. Stick seemed to be completely changed. More affected
mentally than physically. The doctors said his tests were fine and he had no
injuries. But Stick was so affected that he quit his job as an IT support
engineer. Only his colleagues were sympathetic. His father was quite angry,
convinced that he would never get another job. The job market being what it is.
Sell pakodas. He said. Stick didn't know if he was serious or joking. Not that
he cared. He had found his mission he thought and signed up for a diving
course.
________________________
TBC
