A Cellular Chat

 

It was Sunday morning. At 7:30, all the residents of the jail were asked to proceed for the breakfast. Around 60 people entered a large dining hall. The menu for the day included white bread, potato with curry, a banana, a boiled egg, and porridge. Everyone picked a plate and went to the counter to receive their meal. The total breakfast time allowed by the authority was 30 minutes. Everyone was supposed to be in the ground in half an hour after which a fall-in would take place and an hour of free time was allowed in which everyone could do as per their choice. Of course, there were guards all around to keep an eye on them.

 After the attendance, two convicts named Rahul and Lallan drifted towards the benches. There was some nip in the air and sunlight in the morning felt heavenly. Both sat on the bench, and suddenly Lallan spoke, " You look like a person with minimal means. You are weak and very soft-spoken. It's tough to imagine that someone like you would do something that could lead to here".

" There is no need to euphemize my situation. You can say that I am extremely poor and have stayed hungry most of my life. Now about me being here, the man with whom I spoke last, before coming here said that I am here because of his unfaltering ambition of helping me. He said that he has gone out of his way to make my life easier", Rahul said.

" Made your life easier by sending you to jail? Are you stupid or what?" Lallan looked puzzled.

" That's what he said. He is a manager in a company and travels in a car. I am sure like all educated people, he must be telling the truth ", Rahul said.

" Can you tell me your story?" Lallan asked.

"We have nearly an hour and nice sunlight. I can tell you if you promise not to judge me. I have been judged already ", Rahul said.

" Nobody here is a saint. Why would anyone judge you? Feel free to narrate your story", Lallan said.

" I lived alone in my small tent near Seemapuri. I used to clean cars in nearby areas to get some money. Life was going smooth as it does when your only problem is to arrange the next meal. It's amazing that when your stomach is empty, you have only one problem but when it's full, you have hundreds.

Suddenly, I heard that some bat shit crazy guy drank bat soup in a crazy country and that started some kind of disease. Somehow the disease traveled everywhere in the world and I, who have never seen a bat in my life, was stopped from entering the society where I used to clean the cars. This prevention to do my work led to complete upheaval in my life. There was little food in my house but it ended sooner than mine anticipation.

Six days went by and all I could manage to put in my stomach was water. I was hungry. I had a lifetime practice of being hungry but this time, it was different. I started feeling a strange pain in my stomach. I was lying on a footpath near my home when a car stopped,  and a handsome fellow came out. He asked if I was sick. I said to him about my painful situation. He asked me to get in his car. I could barely stand. His driver helped me in getting in the car.

He called someone and then asked his driver to take the car somewhere. We reached there in 30 minutes. We came out of the car and I was amazed to see a big, fancy restaurant in front of me. I looked at the restaurant first and then at him. He understood my dilemma and said, " I see that you are a bit hopeful and scared at the same time. Don't worry! I have understood your problem and want to assure you that you can eat all you want here. It's one of the very few good eateries open in this lockdown and I can assure you that it also is one of the best. So please come inside with us and order whatever you want".

I felt like touching his feet. I blessed him with all my intent. He blessed me with lots of food. I ate and then I ate some more. Two and a half hours later, I felt as if I was in heaven. After a very long time, my stomach was full. The man and his driver ate with cutleries whereas I had neither any skill nor any intent to use them. I ate like a man hungry for six days would. After the meal, all of us came out and he asked me if I needed anything else. I folded my hands and said," I don't remember if I ever had such a wonderful meal in my life. You are like a god to me. I am fully content and do not need anything else".He smiled and signaled me to get in the car again. We returned to my place and I got off his car after saying' thank you' like gazillion times.

Three months passed. The government, people, and other organizations managed to provide food to people like us and I was never that hungry again. I still got shivers when I thought of that unique event of my life. I blessed the man every day.

One day, another car halted near my house. A man in this early twenties wearing a crisp white shirt and black trousers entered my house with a file in his hand. He asked me, "Are you, Mr. Rahul?"

I said," Yes Sir! Please tell me how can I help you?"

 He said to me," Mr. Rahul! You need to pay us Rs 7000 for your dinner you had with my employer three months ago. Here are the details along with rates of all the items consumed by you". 

He handed me a paper containing all the details. 

I took the paper but could not read anything because of two reasons. The first reason being the inability of my brain to process the shock that it just received and the second one being the language written on the paper was English.

I asked, " Is this some kind of joke? If yes then it's a pathetic one, and if no then I really don't know what to say".  

He said, " We don't expect you to say anything. Just pay your bill and all this discussion will come to an end immediately. I don't want to waste mine and your time for the recovery of such a meager amount".

I thought in my mind if the person in front of me was shameless or I was dumb. How can anyone do such a thing to anyone? I wondered what made him think that I could afford such kind of money.

I pleaded," There is some misunderstanding sir! That gem of a man helped me when I was hungry for 6 six days. He stopped his car, asked about my situation, and then took me to dinner. My financial situation is abundantly visible to one and all. How can you come out of the blue after deciding to help me out on your own and then decide to hand me such a bill? Do you have any idea about the number of days I would eat if I had Rs 7000? It may be a meager amount for you but for me it's huge".

He said," You are not a child. Why would you act so naive? My employer helped you out when you needed that most. He saved your life. He also decided not to send the bill immediately to give you enough time to arrange the amount. Why would you think that anyone will give something free to you? He helped you and now you must pay him back. He is a man with a precise financial balance sheet and at the end of the day, all the balances must be matched to zero. It's basic finance. Nothing personal. Please try to understand that we have gone out of our ways to accommodate your situation but now you must pay your bill".

Needless to say, I declined to pay him anything.

He said, "I will revert back after telling your response to my employer".

He returned after a week and said, " I have a piece of great news for you. My employer has decided to extend another helping hand. You can come to our company and clean everyone's car for 3 months. In this way, he would write your bills off ."

I said," If I spend 3 months in your company without any payment, what will I eat. Why do you people act as if the money you got is at the cost of selling your humanity?"

He said nothing but sprinted out of my home, sat in his car, and zipped away.

After a month, the police came to my house said that I was under arrest for stealing Rs 50000.

The case went for a trial and the judge asked me if  I had any proof that I have not taken the money. Obviously, I had nothing.

It goes without saying that I could not fight a high profile lawyer and was sentenced to imprisonment of 3 years under Indian Penal Code section 379.

The manager in his formal attire was present in the courtroom. After the trial, he came to me and said," You were always worried about food so I have now made sure that for the next three years, you won't have to worry about it. This is how unfaltering our ambition to help you out is! We have again gone out of our way to make your life easier."

A shrill whistle sound indicated that the time in the ground has come to an end and everyone moved towards their cell.