: Farakka Express is rapidly covering the tracks linking West Bengal to Delhi. But for at least one family in the train, life has come to a standstill.
Meet Arjana Bibi and her children — a four-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter. They are on their way to the Capital. The family has travelled on the same train many times.
This time, however, Delhi is not merely the destination. It is the starting point of another journey, which is likely to be beset with difficulties.
At a loss
Their last train journey was a far cry from their uncertain present.
Sometime late last year, the three had Arjana’s husband, Najrul Islam, travelling with them. Arjana remembers that visit to their native village in South Dinajpur as a refreshing outing.
Today, Najrul is missing. The family is returning after performing his last rites.
Najrul died on the night of January 22, when the cab he was driving was allegedly hit by a speeding BMW.
The police suspect that the SUV was being driven at close to 120 km/hour.
Two weeks on, the family is yet to spring back to life.
Four mouths to feed and an almost negligible income from a job as a domestic help has not allowed Arjana to even mourn in peace.
Talking to The Hindu over phone, she says she is looking for a better paying job.
Low income
She does not disclose the “modest” figure that she earns, but says it is nowhere close to the ₹17,000 that her husband would leave with her at the beginning of the month.
She also managed to save a little, but much of it has now gone towards performing the last rites of her husband.
Arjana, however, intends to stay put in Gurgaon, where she and her husband had migrated to in search of a better life. She has also brought her son, who was staying with Najrul’s grandmother, Mofeja Beoa, and intends to keep him with her.
This has left the octagenarian Beoa alone in their village. Arjana is concerned about her safety, but feels that the woman may not want to leave a place she has lived all her life at this stage.
But when she thinks that Beoa is the same woman who raised her husband all by herself after his father remarried, she experiences a conflict between her resources and responsibilities.
An accident has changed a lot.
