It was a pathology lab come house, a house with three rooms.
The office had all the syringes, the blood testing machine, files, and loads of
files, a dustbin overflowing with blood stained cotton and very little place to
walk about. Past the so called office was another room housing a steel bed with
out a mattress and an x-ray machine. The bed I wondered must be quite
uncomfortable to be getting checked on not only physically but also because a
small tea cup used as an ashtray and the door with hanging clothes on it wasn’t
the 5-star treatment a patient is supposed to get. Other I can only assume was
the bedroom/kitchen/’living’ area.
Dr. Hameed was short fat and was going bald by the minute. It
didn’t stop him from getting one of those trendy Georgio Armani glasses. One of
those blinding red jhatak ones. Did
look trendy though. Dr. Hameed or what his friends liked to call him ‘Docs’
found happiness in everything. It didn’t matter to him if he was living in his
clinic and it sure didn’t matter what others thought about it. Getting high
with the help of any toxic substance used to be Docs’ normal day routine but he
had quit drinking and smoking after marriage and quit smoking up after he got
back from a Leh-Ladhak trip.
I and Sheetal were there to get the stuff. Stuff which by far
is the best stuff I have ever come across. We got so excited we wanted to try
it out. See it to believe kind of deals. Couldn’t have happened without Docs’
permission. It was a plain NO from his side, well, at least for the next 15mins
we were chit chatting with him. A couple of minutes after the initial 15mins he
came out from the X-ray room to call us in to ‘demonstrate’.
The incident Docs chose to tell us about couldn’t have had a
better timing. Unlit crampy room had a small window overlooking the society
garden, still sunny outside and a cup of tea in our hands and sound of buzzing
Havells fan.
Journey from Mumbai to Leh in a train can be a never ending
one. But with the company of 4 other friends, well sort of because Docs
included his Jija and his Jija’s friend in those 4, journey can be never ending
but it has that fun and excitement attached to it. The talks about life, the
planning of the trip, the card games, the bitching about chicas.
Apart from all that Docs had procured 5 Tola (50grams) Manali
Cream or what the Doon boys would call Sulfa or what the Iranians would call
Hash or what Eastern India would call Bhaang ki Goliya and the rest of the
world would call Charas. Some might dread having that amount even in the
comfort of their homes but Docs had some different plans in life.
Smoking it gives you some peace of mind, the illusion of
leading a care free life, the happiness that you always thought missed in every
action. You laugh and laugh and laugh, you laugh away the tears of sorrow and
the regrets of your past. Time slows down, giving the false feeling to stay in
you for just a little bit longer. Everything around you seems simple and clearer.
You understand the purpose of you being in that place at that precise time. It also gets you closer to Lord Shiva,
and I mean literally. Then music takes over and does the rest for you.
Docs was aware of the checking that happens when the train passes
Punjab. But giving up that feeling was something Docs chose to ignore. Measures
were already in place. It was all planned oh so well. 5T black gold was to be
hidden before the train hits Punjab. So it was obvious they were to only smoke
up before and after Punjab.
Delhi at the time was cold. Morning fog was not thick enough
to disrupt the train schedule. Docs thought of it as a good opportunity to roll
one last one before Punjab starts, knowing by 12 noon they would be clear, he
can sleep through Punjab and wake up and rollup another one. No issues at all.
One death stick was prepared at the station ready to take over the senses.
Mahesh was fast asleep at the time, Docs tried with all his
will to convince him to come out on Delhi railway tracks and have a go. Mahesh,
Docs thought, would have been on some other even stronger drug! But then
refusing Bhole Baba ka Prasad is a sin which in coming hours was justified.
Docs gave up and went outside in the chilly weather to smoke one on his own.
The sulfa was no ordinary one. It could get you to places you haven’t ever
been. Docs went halfway there and decided to extinguish the remaining half. The
remaining half was just enough to get him through one successful bowel movement
in the morning he thought. The pleasure he would get with the passing of
biryani and getting high at the same time. Every charsis’ dream coming true. That
too as soon as you get up!
‘Bhenchod uth ja sale, ek baj gaya hai, ek mast wala bana de’
was what Mahesh was whispering in Docs’ ears, Docs still high reached for his
Armani looked around and saw Mahesh giving the look even Puss in Boots of Shrek
would have gotten up and rolled up one for him. It was either that or the pride
you feel of being the only one who could roll one joint which made Docs get up
half heartedly.
Docs mustered all the tools of workmanship - a visiting card
which would be used for the filter, OCB rolling paper, cigarette, matchbox and of
course that black thing wrapped up in cellophane. It was little later than one
in the afternoon and he had been asleep for good 8hrs. More than usual for Docs
and yet he felt tired and sleepy. In the bathroom as he was letting it go
freely in a moving train he was also engineering one. When he was almost done
it struck him, the left over from morning was still in his pant pocket! The
excitement gave Docs a sudden high. Moving train, out of Punjab and in the
bathroom. There it was, what he had dreamt of in the morning.
It was after a few drags when someone knocked on his door.
Fuck cares. Smoke up Brother!
He had enough to get him jailed for at least 10yrs without
bail. His then 3yr old daughter Myra will long forget him and his wife will
probably get re-married. Something he realized when he saw 2 tall cops standing
outside his bathroom door. One Sardar and another Muslim. It was actually 11am,
they were still in Punjab and Mahesh wanted one joint really bad!
Docs saw the cops standing outside and got the shock of his
life. His world started spinning in front of his eyes. It really did start
spinning, it was either because of the joint he had just smoked up or because
he was illegally exporting 5T charas from Mumbai to Leh. Suddenly it wasn’t
just the train which was moving at alarming speed. Even the tall cop could hear
his heart pounding like techno music. After frisking him, they found little
less than 1tola.
Ye aap kya kar rahe the Doctor Saab….
The police officer had checked his wallet for contents before
getting to the charas. The Sardar, with all the politeness he could gather and
the calmness he had in him , said ‘Lets go’.
Docs just couldn’t tell the cops he had 4 others traveling
with him. But his train ticket said other wise. There were 4 more in the bogey,
completely unaware of what kind of shit Docs had landed into. He pleaded that
the family members didn’t know that he did drugs and the cops shouldn’t tell
them either. He didn’t want his Brother-in-law to know, because that would have
some repercussions.
Docs had hidden the Sulfa away from the baggage, so the cops
didn’t find anything when they went through it. It was being searched inside
out while the rest of the crowd, including Jijaji and his friend, stood there
watching in amazement and disgust. The cops searched all 5 of them and their
luggage thoroughly and unfortunately found some with Mahesh. Mahesh had earlier
taken some out and had forgotten to hide it.
Sardar again with that calm and unforgiving sound asked Docs
and Mahesh to follow them to the Bada Saab.
The office of Bada Saab was in the pantry bogey. The air was
filled with the smell of aloo paratha
and aam ka achar. Morning rush of the
cooks preparing the meal was somewhat hard to watch. Amongst all the chaos was
a small room. When they entered the room Docs couldn’t believe what he was
seeing. Two innocent looking guys were being beaten by lathis. The chatter of food trays, cooking utensils and the noise
of the train running streamlined on the tracks couldn’t blanket the screams
which were coming out of the room.
The two guys just didn’t have enough money to pay the cops and
the crime they had committed wasn’t grave enough to lock them up. The price for
a smaller crime was frustration of cops for not getting paid. While Docs was
watching the two guys being battered Bada Saab was getting de-briefed on the
situation in hand.
Bada Saab looked at the now weak Docs and told him it was
10yrs of imprisonment. The statement was nothing compared to the mentally
torturous details Bada Saab explained to Docs and Mahesh about their lives in
the prison. Aloo paratha was becoming
a distant thought and the smell of achaar
was slowly fading away. Docs was just not prepared for prison life, abandoning
his wife and daughter over 5 tola charas was not what he had planned for in life.
The starting price offered to both of them to be scott free
was 1Lakh in cash. Judging by the field of work of Docs and Mahesh Bada Saab
had calculated the sum. Doctor Saab ek lakh. After much begging, pleading and crying
the price came down to 50 grand. Bada Saab was intent on 50G and he told them
to get it from the ATM at the next stop if they had to. Jalandhar station was
nearing and there wasn’t much time left before the cops had to leave as the
train would be exiting Punjab soon. So the money had to be withdrawn from
Jalandhar. It was either that or jail.
Docs and Mahesh had a total of 22000rs cash in their wallets.
Which was the price they finally had to pay plus Docs’ mobile phone. Bada Saab
spared Maheshs’ cell, as his would fetch Bada Saab no more than a few hundred
bucks. But Docs, to convince the cops to bring the price to 22k had to let go
of his mobile. His was worth at least 10k. Bada Saab after getting the cash and
while he was getting to know the mobile features explained to them ‘kyu karte ho ye sab, bura hai and aap toh
Doctor hain! Lungs ke liye achaa nahi hai Doctor Saab.’ Bada Saab told Docs
that he can get his mobile back for 5000rs on his way back. Meaning Docs had to
buy his own mobile at half the price of what he had already paid in the Nokia
shop..
India has come to such a level where the underworld is
extortioning money from the rich and the cops are from the poor and they both
are getting away with it. Why wouldn’t they! What Docs had to pay was being
used for greater good. Money is being used to run the system. All those who are
running the system get the cut. How would Bada Saab drive a fancy car and visit
the bars if Docs were to go to jail and not pay up!
On the brighter side, Docs and Mahesh were just relieved that
there was still at least 3tola of Manali Crème left for them to smoke up….
