For a long time i have been contemplating about writing a book of short stories, and after reading a post To Blog or not to Blog by my aunt, i realised that in our daily lives itself, there are so many premises we come across, that we can take them and build stories around them.10 William House is my first short story.It is completely fictional,however the seed for the story comes from a rickshaw driver i meet in Allahbad.
10 William House
Abdul lived in the old civil lines area of Allahabad.He was in his late 40`s but his profession as a cycle rickshaw driver had taken a toll on him. His face was full of wrinkles, so were his legs and he looked nothing less than 50 in age.Abdul lived alone in a small slum in a tiny lane in Civil lines. No one knew about the existence of his family. His house was a small room, with hardly any belongings apart from a small transistor radio, an old wooden cupboard, a few vessels and a stove. He liked to begin work early; he would wake up just before dawn, bath and cycle to the railway station.
It was just another day for Abdul; business had not been too good the previous day, so he drove to the railway station on the brink of dawn hoping to get some customers.A lot of trains going to Mughal Sarai and Lucknow stopped at Allahabad station every morning. Allahabad was not really a tourist destination but more of a student’s city.
Abdul reached the station and took a spot at the rickshaw stand. There were just about 2-3 cycle rickshawalas and autorickshaw drivers waiting at the stand. Abdul lived alone, so whenever he meet people he would love to talk. He chatted with Mohan the auto rickshaw driver about the auto rickshaw business, who was proudly telling him how he got fares in the night by ferrying prostitutes to their respective clients or making deals for them.Abdul was a very straight guy,he didn’t like this kind of talk, so he moved away from Mohan and sat on the cycle rickshaw wondering about the ways of this world.
The train arrived and there was spur of passengers coming out. Among all the passengers a girl walked out.She was alone, and she had no luggage accept a big bag hanging over her shoulders.She was looking at some transport she haggled with the autorickshaw guy but he was not willing to come down on the price so she walked further looking for another mood of transport.
Abdul got up from his seat and went and asked the girl
"Bitiya tum Kaha jayogi, University le jayoo"
The Girl replied
"Nahi chacha, muje triveni sangam jana hai, aap kitne paise lenge"
"Bees rupee de dena bitya"
The girl was so charmed by his mannerism of talking that she instantly agreed to the ride without haggling on the price
The girl was a backpacker and she had come to see the Triveni Sangam and after that look around the city and board the bus to her next stop Lucknow.
As Abdul drove her through the tiny streets of Allahabad, she asked him about the specialty of Allahabad and house of Amitabh Bacchan. Abdul was more than delighted to tell her about Allahabad.She was thrilled to see those beautiful old British bungalows. He told her how life was different then, how the Britishers moved around in horse buggies.Infact his father worked for a very famous British judge Sir Frank Williams who owned a big mansion on Civil lines. His father was the main buggy driver. They lived in the huge servant quarters of the mansion. Even after independence Sir Frank Williams continued to live in Allahabad, but the horse buggy was soon gone. Abdul and his father continued to live with Sir Frank Williams and help around the house and do all his odd jobs.Abdul`s mother died when he was just about 2 years old, so he grew up with his father.
As they passed through William House,Abdul pointed it out to her. When she enquired, if he still lived there, Abdul’s pleasant smile shrunk and he said no. The curious girl obviously asked him about the reason, and he said ‘ Bitiya, Maf karma hum uske bareme bata nahi sakte’.
The triveni sangam ghat arrived and Abdul told the girl ‘ Bitiya dhyan rakhne, yeah nav vale ko 40 rupee se jyada maat dena, aur dhyan rakhne, who kumbh mele ke ghat pe koi pujari miljayega to aapko paiso ka sankalp karvayega”
The girl took the boat ride and wondered about the reason for Abdul leaving that house.After that blissful ride of the Triveni sangam, the girl decided to walk through the city. One of the things she noticed were this shops selling guns, revolvers.Curious as always she entered one of the shops and enquired how much it would cost for a normal revolver.She also asked the uncle to direct her to the house of Girdharisham. Girdharisham was a very old friend of the girls grandfather, since the house was nearby the girl decided to at least go and give a flying visit to the uncle.
Girdharisham lived in a palatial bungalow. He was a retired lawyer of the High court. As they chatted over chai and the crisp butter biscuit, the girl casually enquired if he knew Sir Frank Williams.Girdharisham told her that Sir Frank Williams was a very good friend of his father,who was also a judge.The girl got even more curious, so she enquired about him. Girdharisham`s face turned grim, he said Sir Frank Williams was murdered 5 years ago.
Sir Frank Williams lived in one of the biggest mansions of Allahabad, with the advent of urbanization one of the biggest builders from Noida wanted to construct a huge mall on that same property. He was willing to pay a hefty amount for the same plot of land. However Sir Williams was quite happy with his lifestyle and house and did not want any additional money. His son who lived in London was visiting him at that time. His son had tried his hands on various businesses using his fathers money and had been quite a failure. He had come to beg for some more money from Sir Williams.When he learnt about the astounding sum of money the builder was ready to offer his father,he realized the only thing to do was to kill his father.
One evening he went into the adjoining terrace of his father room, the lights had gone, but he noticed a human figure, and aimed at it. He fired two more shots and just as he was turning away the lights came up and he saw his father in front of him. Considering it as a illusion after killing his father he decided to walk off, but he had not gone far, when his father tried to hit his head with a big vase. A fist fight began between the duo and the son succeeded in killing the father with a pocket knife which he removed from his pocket.
The entire episode was witnessed by the servant’s son,Abdul.It was very brave of Abdul to stand up and play witness to the murder. However as you are aware money power pumps the delay in judicial system.The police have though recorded Abdul`s statement, William`s son has cleverly obtained a bail and lives in London, whereas the builder has decided to opt out of the deal,as they are wary of the house being dragged into any judicial custody.
