It was the scorching heat of May and I had booked my ticket in the non AC sleeper class from Bangalore to my hometown Bhubaneswar. Like always, I was hoping to meet some descent co passengers in my berth. But again like always, that proved to be only a hope against hope. I found an old couple, an aged woman and a strange looking lady in my berth.

My suspicious mind was trying to deduce the possibilities of the strange lady of being some terrorist. I will be rude in saying that the lady qualified all the criteria of a man being dressed in a salwar suit. I was just trying hard to concentrate on a Business magazine that, a man came into the compartment and his appearance strengthened my doubts of something fishy going around.

The brown skinned young man had rough features and was neatly dressed with a pair of new jeans, a cool T-shirt and a pair of sports shoes. But he had covered his face with a white hanky and even more he had no reservation and was standing near the strange lady’s seat. After few minutes a bald man also walked in from the other compartment and joined him in the standing party. Minutes after, these two men were signaling each other, so I kept my eyes on them. But finally I realised that the lady was some kind of sanyashini who had renounced the world and the 2 men had no connection with her. After some time the hanky man asked me to let him sit for a couple of hours as he had no reservation and the TT was in the other compartment. I was not sleeping, so I didn’t mind him sitting at the other end of my seat. But still I was keeping an eye on him. The bald man was still standing there.An hour had passed and I saw the hanky man was looking and signaling a girl who was sitting near a woman in the next berth behind me.

Ohhhoo.. this was a clear case of love, and I was giggling inside. Now the bald man came grinning at me and adjusted himself in the spare space of my seat and began to talk with the hanky man. The case was now crystal clear and with my fears removed I continued reading the magazine. Suddenly, I heard some sound and I took my eyes off from the magazine and saw the hanky man burying his face in the bald man’s lap and was weeping like a child. When I looked behind I saw his girlfriend’s wet eyes looking desperately at him. So understanding the gravity of the situation I pretended to be unknown of the happenings. In my mind I prayed for their happiness. I don’t know whether there will be a happy ending or sad ending to their love story, but I got a lesson, “Appearance is always deceptive”. The man who seemed to be some cold blooded criminal was in fact a very soft hearted man. Although I don’t appreciate such weak characters, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. He changed my perception in a few hours.

Now I have a different name for the hanky man.. “The Unknown Lover”