01. The short, long train ride

Kavi glanced at the book in his lap. He was bored. It was not because of the book. It was because he was unable to read the book. Tales of dense jungles, fierce predators, and brave hunters beckoned to him.

"...when I was your age, that was when the second Indo-China war started. At that time, my cousin had just opened a shop..." The fourth passenger in their train coupe continued a story that had started two stations ago. Stations on this train line were about forty-five minutes apart.

Kavi examined the speaker's big black spectacles, perched on a pinched face with a sparse moustache. On the left cheek, a mole twitched. A single hair emerged from it, waving in sync with the moving lips.

Maybe that hair is an antenna that catches radio waves, Kavi thought. And those radio waves became thought waves, which then became an unending stream of words, pouring all over him and his parents.

He glanced at Ma and Baba.

Ma had her patient face on. It was the same face that she put on when Kavita aunty spoke to her. She sat away from the window, facing their co-passenger, nodding along to the beat of the story. Her hands clenched and unclenched sporadically, as if building up the courage to run away.

Baba hunched across from Kavi, half-hidden in the sharp shadow cast by the single night light. His posture was sleepy, his eyes were not. They danced across the other three occupants of their cubicle, before alighting on Kavi. When their eyes met, Kavi saw a spark of mischief.

Meanwhile, the story continued unabated, "...and I told him, eggs, you must sell eggs. But he did not take my advice!"

The mischievous spark grew, and spread from Baba's eyes to his lips.

"Speaking of eggs, " he interjected, "Three days ago, I dropped an egg on the floor, but it didn't crack. Why do you think that was, Mr. Shastri?"

Ma's eyes widened. Shastri uncle took a beat to realize that he had lost his audience.

"Umm..", he floundered, "Was it hard boiled?"

"Good guess! But no." said Baba.

"Did you drop it on a mattress?"

"Excellent guess, but unfortunately, wrong again. I dropped it on a hard floor."

Shastri uncle's brow furrowed. His face became even more pinched. Finally, he threw up his arms in surrender.

"Well, it was luck!"

Baba's innocent smile was met with an uncertain look from Shastri uncle.

"I have a follow-up question!" Baba continued.

From the corner of his eye, Kavi saw Ma shift in her seat. She seemed to be seeking out the same shadow that Baba has been lounging in. Her fists were no longer clenched, though.

"Two days ago, I dropped the same egg on the floor. Again, it did not crack. Why?"

"Luck!" roared Shastri uncle, "Ha ha! You won't get me that eas..."

"No, it was experience," said Baba.

Before Shastri uncle could recover, Baba continued. "I have a third and final question."

"Go on," said Shastri uncle through gritted teeth.

Ma had pulled her blue shawl over herself. It made her blend in with the vinyl upholstery. Kavi leaned forward, eyes darting from Baba's face to Shastri uncle's.

"Yesterday, I dropped that damnable egg a third time. This time..." Baba paused. "This time, it cracked!"

Shastri uncle's lips disappeared in a thin line. He fought a losing battle to stay silent. "Bad luck!" he said.

Baba leaned back. His smile had turned beatific.

"No. It was overconfidence."