Anmol weaved his way through the milling crowd at Hazrath Nizamuddin station.   The babble of voices, shouts of the vendors and the railway announcements all created a cacophony.  As he made his way pulling his trolley bag, he cursed himself for not having taken the metro. He had chosen to come by cab and was stuck in traffic for an hour. Huffing and puffing he reached the platform where the Rajdhani Express to Bangalore was all set to depart in few minutes. 

Anmol managed to find his 2AC coach and climbed in out of breath.   He located his seat and sat down heaving a sigh of relief.  He then proceeded to stow away his luggage and glanced at his co-passengers. 

 An elderly couple were seated on the opposite  side while a girl probably in her early twenties sat by the window on his side.  She had her eyes glued to the book she was reading and refused to look up. 

The elderly couple smiled at him warmly and Anmol responded 

"Beta where are you going?" asked the lady. 

"Nagpur " he replied 

"We are going to Bangalore to our son's place. He is a software engineer there " she volunteered.  

To avoid any further  talk,  Anmol fished out his ear buds and slid them into his ears. The train departed and he settled down comfortably listening to his favourite music.  He stole a glance at the girl who was now busy texting on her phone. She had a tense look on her face. 

Around 8pm, the lady opened a big tiffin carrier and began serving rotis and sabzi to her husband. The aroma of food assaulted Anmol's nose and he realised that he was hungry. He had forgotten to pack food in his hurry .  The lady kindly offered him a plate and Anmol accepted it gracefully.   When the same was offered to the girl, she refused curtly and took out a wrapped  sandwich from her bag and munched on it.  The girl's phone rang and she picked it at once and speaking softly  said “ Don't worry it will be done. I need the money immediately. ”

After some time the elderly couple  settled to sleep.   The girl  spoke  to Anmol 

“Can you take the upper berth?”

Anmol agreed and moved up. He listened to some more music and slowly drifted to sleep. The girl held the black bag close to her and pretended to sleep. At around 3am when the train was nearing Bhopal, there was a huge blast, and the air was filled with screams.  A bomb had gone off in 2AC compartment causing the train to derail. Bodies were strewn across the tracks , a truly gory sight.  With sirens blaring, police and medical help arrived at the site.

The police and para medical staff helped to transfer the dead and the injured to the ambulance and they were shifted to Bhopal government hospital.   Later in the day Anmol woke up to find himself in the hospital. It was a miracle that he had survived.  He had suffered multiple fractures and could barely speak.  He understood that there was a bomb blast and he was among the lucky few who had survived. 

 Newspaper headlines and TV channels screamed "Bomb blast on Rajdhani Express near Bhopal. Several dead and many injured in the terrorist attack.  Lashkar-e-Taiba has claimed responsibility for it and warned the government to release their members who have been arrested previously".

Meanwhile somewhere in Itarsi a man lies on the hospital bed waiting for his heart surgery 

" You don't worry. Meher has promised to arrange for the money. Allah will help us" his wife consoles him.  After sometime a man wearing a mask enters the hospital  steadily searching for them.  He introduces himself and hands over the money to the lady . Her face is filled with relief  and thanks him profusely.  The man makes a quick exit taking care not to reveal his face.  The next day the lady receives a call from an unknown number. It is Meher and she is informed about the successful surgery. 

Meher tell her mother

"I am away abroad on an assignment and will not return for a year. I will send you money regularly and you take care of Abbu. Please don't try to contact me at anytime. I will call you whenever it is possible". Meher cuts the call and sighs deeply.   She wonders how long she will be able to maintain the facade.