Kabir, a college student, was on his usual route to home. But today, his journey took an unexpected turn. Running late due to college activities, he hopped onto a train without checking its destination. As the train chugged along, Kabir realized his...
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Kabir checked his watch and sighed, "Late again. And the train's not even on time." Standing on platform 10 at Thane railway station, he glanced at his phone to tell his mom about the delay, but it was at 10% battery. "Great, this won't last till I get home," he grumbled.
He noticed 13 missed calls from his mom because his phone was on 'Do Not Disturb.' Worried, he dialed her number, but she didn't pick up.
"Ugh, need to save battery. Well, I'll just text her," he decided, quickly typing a message. Just as he hit send, the train arrived.
Kabir hurriedly stashed his phone in his pocket and boarded the train without checking its route. It didn't matter which train he took as long as it went to Koparkhairane. But this train was different—it was a fast express, stopping only at certain stations.
As Kabir got on the train, it started moving right away. He took a deep breath and began searching for a seat, but the layout inside was different. Despite looking normal from the outside, the train had separate sections for different groups of people, like they were living in separate worlds even though they were all on the same train.
Feeling panicked, Kabir noticed a girl having fun with her friends. She saw his worried expression as he stood by the door, looking around the train. When she caught his eye, Kabir approached her.
"Um, excuse me," Kabir started nervously. The girl nodded.
"I just wanted to know if this is a new train and where I should sit," Kabir explained.
Understanding his confusion, the girl replied, "Well, you're actually on the wrong train. Where are you headed?"
"Koparkhairane," Kabir replied.
"Oh, okay. Don't worry, this is a new train starting today. Koparkhairane is the next stop. It's a fast train, so it skips many stations. You're lucky.
You can sit with us until your stop, but just know that normal tickets aren't valid on this train. We separate people based on religion to avoid conflicts. You'll see signs above each section. If the ticket checker comes, you'll have to handle it yourself. Come, you can sit with us," she said kindly, and everyone else on the train acted like this was normal.
Kabir chuckled nervously, "I had no idea. It's like we're getting used to separating people nowadays." The girl laughed along, though her friends stared at Kabir without showing any emotion, making him uncomfortable.
"If you don't think this is normal, get off at your station, or you'll end up where you don't want to be. By the way, I'm Niyati. What's your name?" she asked.
"I'm Kabir," he replied. Before he could say more, one of Niyati's friends interrupted, asking for Kabir's last name.
"We don't need to know that, Shubham," Niyati stopped him, rolling her eyes.
