PUBLIC INTEREST – A SCIENCE FICTION

 

We had reached the railway station well in advance. 

It was raining cats and dogs, and was cold in the night.

The station was full, with families huddled up, with bag and baggage waiting for their trains.  There were people rushing in at the last moment.  They obviously had been caught in the traffic outside, due to rains.

But we were comfortably well in advance.  I and my son had a cup of hot tea.  We kept starring at the board for the announcement of the platform of the train.

My son scrolled in his mobile for the coach position so that we could go to the appropriate spot on the platform.  There were more than 12 platforms and very lengthy ones.  So to reach the correct spot on the correct platform, with such a big crowd would be difficult.

But I told him that until the platform is announced, there is no point in knowing the coach position.  Platforms could undergo a change at the last moment if some VIP train is to pull up the platform scheduled for us, or if another train expected to leave the platform has not left. 

Then again, even the coach positions shown on the website may undergo a change at the last moment.  Even in stations where the trains stop only for 2 or 3 minutes, I have seen people running from one end of the platform to the other end, with loads of their belongings and children, because the coach positions were not as per announcement. 

At least we had an advantage. Our station was the terminus.  There will be a lot of time for us to board the train.

So I asked him to keep cool and wait for the announcement of the platform first.

He was not very much convinced.  He gave me a look of disapproval.  ‘Old man, never changes’, was evident from his mocking glare.

There was a delay of more than 2 hours for our train to arrive.  Rains had not stopped.  Obviously that would also be a reason for the late arrival.  Other trains were also getting delayed.  Their departure also. Perhaps the sympathetic department, to help those who could have been stuck up in traffic, obviously were waiting a bit.

By mid night our train was announced.  There was a mad rush towards the platform.  The platform was already full with passengers waiting there for some other train which had also been scheduled there.  Then passengers getting out of the incoming train were in a hurry to get out.   They were already late.  They had to get some transport to get home.  Some of their relatives had also come to the platform.  Porters were running here and there, trying to get some clients, older the better.  

We managed to wade through the crowd and find our compartment.  The third class A/C compartment was almost half a kilometer from the engine. 

There used to be charts stuck up on the side of the compartments earlier. We could check our seats and confirm.  There used to be a chart at the entrance also. But times have changed. We were moving into a paperless world. There was no chart, nor did we have the patience. We should get in and try to get some sleep.

After we got in and took our seats, within two minutes a family came and said that the seats and berths were reserved by them.  We cross verified, both our booking details showed the same coach number and seat numbers.

I asked my son to check whether there was a difference in the train number and date. Sometimes while booking, we forget the railway time.  But that happens only in the case of trains starting in the early morning.  Since this was a night train, such a mistake could not have happened due to time and date.

But on verification of the bookings it was clear that two seats had been allotted to both parties. 

We waited for the TTE with bated breath.  The family was also puzzled.  They had a child and an old lady also.  Any change would be of great inconvenience to them.  I an my son at least could get down and change the compartment.  So we asked them to occupy the seats and waited.

The TTE came just before the train was to start.  We went up to him and showed our mobiles.  After verifying his tab, he said that our name was not there.  ‘Could he see if we were in any other compartment’, we asked.  He took our PNR and searched and said that it was not there in that train and for that matter, there was no reservation with that PNR.

We were dumbfounded.  The train was about to leave.  We had to get down immediately.  The other family looked at us with great sympathy.  Or was it derision, I do not know.  Can we buy a ticket, now, I asked the TTE.  No, he said.  Any vacancy or cancellation will have to be allotted to RAC candidates.  So no chance.   Pl be quick and get down, he said and moved away.

We got down with our luggage.

The rain has not abated.

The train moved away slowly first and then fast.

I could not look at my son’s face.  He could not even lift his head.

Let us go and check with the staff, I said.

No other option, we moved on to the office.

There was a big crowd around the counter.  Only three people were seated where more than eight or nine are otherwise seated. It was well past mid night.  All the people who had crowded there were shouting at the top of their voices.  The persons inside were saying something.  It was an absolute cacophony.

Somehow I jostled my way to the counter and managed to show the screen shot of the ticket on my mobile and told the lady at the counter our predicament.  I said we had a reservation and payment was also successful. But now the TTE says that we do not have our name in the chart.

“Which train”, she asked.

I replied.

“But the train has left”, she said.

“We came to know only from the train”, I said.

“Won’t you people verify these things, in advance”, she asked in annoyance and browsed through the computer before her.

Then she looked up and said, “your reservation has been cancelled”.

“Cancelled?” I yelled at the top of my voice. “By whom?”.

“The system has cancelled it,” she said. 

“What system? How? For what reason?”, my questions were quick as also my anxiety.

People around me and behind me were getting restless.  They had their own problems to be addressed, urgently. Some were asking us to move away. The lady at the counter was also seen to becoming alarmed on seeing something on the screen.  Then she asked us to go into an adjacent cabin.  “Meet our AGM there and explain.  He will tell you”, she said.

My heart was pounding. I was feeling dizzy and sweating in spite of the heavy rains and cold wind.

My son’s face looked flushed and pathetic.  He did not comprehend what was happening.  He kept scrolling in his mobile to see how the ticket got cancelled.

We slowly entered a cabin nearby.  I was expecting an elderly person.  But the person sitting there appeared to be quite young and agile.  In the age of hair dyes, age of course cannot be gauged by the colour of the hair, I thought, perhaps to satisfy my self.

From his facial expression, I could understand that he was already aware of the issue.  Perhaps the lady at the counter would have briefed him over the intercom.  Yet, he asked us for the details and then started scrolling through the computer before him.  Then he slowly started speaking.

“See, I can understand your problem.  But unfortunately I should inform you that you have been black-listed’.

My heart sank. “Black-listed?”, my voice would hardly come out.  Then after a pause, I feebly asked, “for what?”.  I did not even think of asking by whom.

I could see my son’s face becoming pale, though I was not looking at him.

The gentleman said, “See, it is a system module to profile passengers.  It works based on a data base which is maintained at our Headquarters.  We cannot have access to it.  If you have any complaints, you can register it in our website or send email to our id given in the web site.”. 

“What do you mean by saying if I have any complaints?  You have not even notified me about the cancelation or given me any alternate ticket.  At this odd hour, what do you expect me to do?”.

“Sir, I am helpless.  I understand your condition.  But I cannot do anything at my level”, he said.

I was numb with disbelief.  What on earth is happening, I thought.  I have heard about the word black-listing only in the case of criminals. Never heard in the case of railway bookings.  Never thought that a booking once confirmed will be cancelled by the department. That too without any intimation and left high and dry.

“Can you atleast be able to see the reason for the said black-listing”, I got some courage to ask the gentleman.

He looked confused.  He thought for a moment.  “It might be confidential”, he said.

“But you have to atleast tell me the basis.  There would have been some reason given there”, I said.

“Please meet our GM.  But do not say I asked you to meet him”, he said and showed me another room.

But the GM’s room was not yet opened.  We waited for another two hours.  It had almost become dawn. 

A person entered the office of the GM.  I peeped in.  He called me in and asked what was the issue.  I did not know whether it was his routine time or whether he had come so early because someone had intimated the issue to him.

I entered his room and narrated all that has happened and all that I had been told.

He looked sadly at me.  Then he opened his computer and after taking my PNR he started searching.  There was pin drop silence in the room for quite a few minutes.  My heart was once again pounding without knowing what new thing he is likely to come up with.

An elderly lady came in and served coffee to him.  He asked us whether we wanted coffee or tea.  I was not in a mood to take anything.  Home was waiting for me 600 Kms away.  Sleep and fatigue was weighing upon my eye lids.  More than that, I felt something which I knew not what, had hit me hard on the head that it was in a swirl. I sheepishly said ‘No thank you sir’.  ‘As if that is so important,’ I thought to myself.

He sipped his coffee and kept looking into the computer. 

Was he really looking into it or just passing time, I could not say for sure.

Then, after a lengthy silence, after his coffee had been completely exhausted, he asked me abrubtly, “What did you have to do with one Z---“.  I did not quite get the question.

He repeated the name again.

I faintly remembered the name.  He was one of my customers in my trade.  That was more than two or three years back.  After that he had left to Hyderabad and I had never heard about him or contacted him.  Rather had no need to.

I informed him this detail and asked what my present situation had to do with that.

He said that the said person had been arrested at Ahmedabad and that I was found to be a person having had a relationship with him and therefore I have been put on the list.  “Since this is confidential, even if you tell any one about this, I will deny having told this to you.  So please do not quote me”, he said.  “From your look and appearance, I felt that you are a victim in this, so I have told you.  So please do not precipitate.  That is good for you.”. Saying this, he abruptly got up from his chair as if asking us to leave.

I felt as if my legs could not carry me any longer.  But I had to leave.

My son had not yet understood much of what had happened.

We managed to get hold of a bench and sit there.  The rains had become a mere drizzle.  Day was opening.  The crowds had become thinner.  But I felt as if I was in a dark dungeon. No light would come to my mind.

What had the arrest of some fellow, at some remote part of the country, had to do with my profile and life?

‘Shall we book another ticket?”, asked my son.

I did not have enough strength even to answer him.

After he repeated the question impatiently after some time, I said, ‘no use, they will not give’.

He was perplexed. He did not understand how some data base working in the interest of the public could ruin us, for no fault of ours.

I did not know how to go further.  Will I be able to go by bus atleast?  Will this data base be used in all places? When even by rail I cannot move, whether flights will allow me? Where can I get the answers and remedy? To whom should I prove my innocence?

Or is this all a dream?