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This is the story of eight to ten years back. I was
waiting for auto at mandi house bus stand, Delhi. I saw a foreigner girl on the
bench waiting for transport. She was in her early twenty, wearing salwar
kamiz; she was gorgeous and looking vulnerable. I approached her and asked
where she wanted to go. I came to know that she was from Russia, came here to
attend short-term course in kathak dance and she wanted to go railway
station. I was going to railway station only but I did not reveal to her.
After ten minutes of our conversation, an auto stopped at the bus stand. I bargained with auto driver for auto fare to railway station. Before I got into the auto, I told the girl – “I am going to railway station only. If you want to join me, you may come”. She looked indecisive for few second then she came and sat in the auto. When I was bargaining with auto driver for fare, he had not noticed the girl. He turned from his seat to look back and gave a lascivious look at her. Adjusting the mirror so that he could see the back seat clearly, he commented – “tanch mal hai (the girl is very sexy)”. I admonished him to mind his business. The girl was sitting very close to me but after that, she moved to the corner of the seat, and kept her face towards outside. She kept herself in that position until we reached railway station. After reaching railway station, she almost jumped from the auto, and without looking at us or saying anything, she entered the railway station. I felt her behavior strange. Perhaps, she noticed the vulgar gesture of auto driver and did not trust us.
Next day evening I was in front of Shri ram centre and having snacks. There I met a person who was from Bihar and living in the MP (Member of Parliament) Quarters that was just one kilometer far away from there. The MP, with whom he was associated with, was a famous leader and well known for his dabang politics (The leader is still an MP). He was familiar with my area and knew many influential people of that region. He told that he had written many lyrics for MP Sahib and sung too. His songs were used in the MP Sahib’s election campaign. He sang few lines of the election song, and out of courtesy, I praised him. He took me to nearby fruit juice shop and offered me apple juice. When we were having apple juice, I saw the Russian girl coming towards us. She greeted me and apologized for yesterday. She told she had some urgent work and she was so preoccupied with it that she could not even thank me. I felt she was compensating yesterday’s behavior. I introduced my new friend as a well-known folk singer of Bihar. She expressed her desire to listen folk songs. We sat on the pavement. I was sitting in the middle and the girl was one side and our singer on the other side. The singer sahib changed his seat, sat beside the girl, and started singing. He came very close to her face and with closed eyes started singing election song. It was appearing as if he would enter into the girl’s mouth. Either he was pretending, or he was so engrossed in his song that he was unable to see the discomfort of the girl. The moment he finished the song, she got up and said to me “I have some urgent work to finish. I have to go now. Bye.” After saying that, she left the place.
My new friend looked unaffected by this incident. He shared his experience with foreign girl. “Last year two American girls had come to interview MP Sahib. I was in charge of looking after them. They became very good friend of me. They took many photographs of me, video recorded my songs. One girl even offered me sex but I did not agree. I am living at MP quarter, if anything goes wrong MP Sahib’s name will be spoiled. If I stayed somewhere else, I would not have refused her offer.” I did not respond, as I was not interested in his fantasy.
After two days, I was in Sri Ram centre bookstore, purchased few books and magazine. After purchasing, I went to canteen for coffee. When I was sipping coffee, I saw the Russian girl there. After seeing me, she came to my seat. She conveyed that she was planning to visit Banaras and Kolkata before leaving India. She wanted to see the book I purchased; I pushed all the books and magazine towards her. All books and magazines were in Hindi except one. That was a weekly magazine in English. She started turning the pages of the magazine and read few pages of it. Suddenly she got up and without telling anything she left. I waited for her almost an hour. Her peculiar behavior was beyond my understanding. I picked up the magazine and tried to found out what she was reading. I found an article about thriving Russian prostitute business in Delhi. Perhaps, after reading the article she left from there suddenly.
After that, I stayed fifteen days more in Delhi but I did not see her. I do not know whether she was a genuine student, traveler or prostitute (?) but she looked very insecure in the city. I still remember her strange behavior and justify it with the ‘perhaps’ reasoning. It was true; her peculiar behavior bothered me and lingered in my mind for long.
~~~ Ramanuj Dubey
After ten minutes of our conversation, an auto stopped at the bus stand. I bargained with auto driver for auto fare to railway station. Before I got into the auto, I told the girl – “I am going to railway station only. If you want to join me, you may come”. She looked indecisive for few second then she came and sat in the auto. When I was bargaining with auto driver for fare, he had not noticed the girl. He turned from his seat to look back and gave a lascivious look at her. Adjusting the mirror so that he could see the back seat clearly, he commented – “tanch mal hai (the girl is very sexy)”. I admonished him to mind his business. The girl was sitting very close to me but after that, she moved to the corner of the seat, and kept her face towards outside. She kept herself in that position until we reached railway station. After reaching railway station, she almost jumped from the auto, and without looking at us or saying anything, she entered the railway station. I felt her behavior strange. Perhaps, she noticed the vulgar gesture of auto driver and did not trust us.
Next day evening I was in front of Shri ram centre and having snacks. There I met a person who was from Bihar and living in the MP (Member of Parliament) Quarters that was just one kilometer far away from there. The MP, with whom he was associated with, was a famous leader and well known for his dabang politics (The leader is still an MP). He was familiar with my area and knew many influential people of that region. He told that he had written many lyrics for MP Sahib and sung too. His songs were used in the MP Sahib’s election campaign. He sang few lines of the election song, and out of courtesy, I praised him. He took me to nearby fruit juice shop and offered me apple juice. When we were having apple juice, I saw the Russian girl coming towards us. She greeted me and apologized for yesterday. She told she had some urgent work and she was so preoccupied with it that she could not even thank me. I felt she was compensating yesterday’s behavior. I introduced my new friend as a well-known folk singer of Bihar. She expressed her desire to listen folk songs. We sat on the pavement. I was sitting in the middle and the girl was one side and our singer on the other side. The singer sahib changed his seat, sat beside the girl, and started singing. He came very close to her face and with closed eyes started singing election song. It was appearing as if he would enter into the girl’s mouth. Either he was pretending, or he was so engrossed in his song that he was unable to see the discomfort of the girl. The moment he finished the song, she got up and said to me “I have some urgent work to finish. I have to go now. Bye.” After saying that, she left the place.
My new friend looked unaffected by this incident. He shared his experience with foreign girl. “Last year two American girls had come to interview MP Sahib. I was in charge of looking after them. They became very good friend of me. They took many photographs of me, video recorded my songs. One girl even offered me sex but I did not agree. I am living at MP quarter, if anything goes wrong MP Sahib’s name will be spoiled. If I stayed somewhere else, I would not have refused her offer.” I did not respond, as I was not interested in his fantasy.
After two days, I was in Sri Ram centre bookstore, purchased few books and magazine. After purchasing, I went to canteen for coffee. When I was sipping coffee, I saw the Russian girl there. After seeing me, she came to my seat. She conveyed that she was planning to visit Banaras and Kolkata before leaving India. She wanted to see the book I purchased; I pushed all the books and magazine towards her. All books and magazines were in Hindi except one. That was a weekly magazine in English. She started turning the pages of the magazine and read few pages of it. Suddenly she got up and without telling anything she left. I waited for her almost an hour. Her peculiar behavior was beyond my understanding. I picked up the magazine and tried to found out what she was reading. I found an article about thriving Russian prostitute business in Delhi. Perhaps, after reading the article she left from there suddenly.
After that, I stayed fifteen days more in Delhi but I did not see her. I do not know whether she was a genuine student, traveler or prostitute (?) but she looked very insecure in the city. I still remember her strange behavior and justify it with the ‘perhaps’ reasoning. It was true; her peculiar behavior bothered me and lingered in my mind for long.
~~~ Ramanuj Dubey
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