For the first time in my life i got an upper hand on an eunuch- on ma joureney back from nepal. And it wasn't easy.
M back in hyderabad, after 14 days n ma room feels like heaven, except for the blanket- it smells soorta queer- must be two weeks of dampness takin its toll.
Weather back home was murderous, weather on the way was worse- The sun in bengal n orisssa was accompanied by hot air, which made it difficult for tiny human cells to survive.
First things first, i had no reservation. I met a friend at the station (implied that we became friends after we met)- guru- n he had no berth either. Nyways, with the whole train at our disposal and no place to sleep, we (at least I) stayed awake all night.
We did try our hand at using the Indian way of getting things done- but the TTE asked for a thousand bucks for one seat, which was way above our financial extravaganza.
Middle of the night we met Akash, who had a berth and no intention of sleeping. And while Guru slept, me and akash stayed awake till morning.
An Uncle on the side got up at 4, asked us the time, n started shaving.
My hopes began to rise- if uncle was going to stay awake, he could sit where we were sitting n v could sleep on his berth. I went to the bathroom. Five minuttes later, no such luck. Akash was fast asleep beside guru, n uncle was back in dreamland with vengeance and a clean shaved face.
I finally did go to sleep - at 7.30 in the morning and was promptly awakened by beggars two hours later. Orissa was amazingly uncomfortable and it wasn't until we were way inside Andhra in the afrternoon that things startyed to cool down.
Andhra Pradesh also brought about another encounter- an eunuch called Chakeela.
I gave the Eunuch (Hijda) 10 bucks with the assurance that (s)he would return 5.
(s)he didn't.
Bored as i was, i decided i neede to do something to get back my money. So i, and akash, followed the eunuch, crying 'paanch rupiya de re'. 7 bogeys and half an hour later (s)he returned the money.
In the process, i sustained over a dozen attacks on my privates, spoke like a million dirty words to balance the conversation, had to throw him/her away wen (s)he tried to grasp me, came to know his/her name, experinced the support and encouragement of fellow passengers, had to take snap shots of chakeela n her friend ramya on the videocam.
Also, i gave a gruelling fifteen minutes lecture on truth telling and working with dignity, standing beside the door, received a compliment saying ' ni kallu baag hunnai ra'*,
turned down three offers from both teh eunuchs to 'go to the bathroom', called hiom/her Sree devi twice before (s)he told me his/her name, and never gave up the flirtatious smile on my face.
Wen i finally got the five rupees (near vishakaptnam), i held it out in my hand like a trophy and showed it to all the people in the seven bogeys whoever were willing to listen.
I also congratulated chakeela who didn't seem really happy and was less willing to shake hands.
The five ruppee coin is tucked away in my purse.
And ya, Chakeela's friend was called Ramya
Next post: Chakeela's photo
*(to which i replied: thanx, topic hage cheyaku, na aidu rupai ei ra),