For children: Poltu’s holiday takes an unexpected turn when a train full of ghosts pulls up

We finally reached Sealdah station at 9 o’clock. The huge clock on the station wall told the time. As soon as we got off the taxi, we were surrounded by many men in red, asking us if we wanted them to carry our suitcases. But Mama and I were only carrying one small bag each, so we didn’t need any help. All the other times I’d been to the station, Ma had hired a coolie. This one time, I could not believe how many items the man had strung up all over his body. Two large suitcases on his head, one bag on his shoulder, and another small bag on the other shoulder! Then he sped off so fast towards the platform that Ma sent me running after him, to keep an eye on our luggage. I thought being a porter was quite a neat job. Imagine being able to carry so many heavy bags at one time, like a superhero! But then later I saw Ma pay the man fifty rupees and he went and joined some of his friends who were drinking tea and eating small, sweet buns. They all looked very tired.

So I was happy that I could carry my own bag this time. Mama quickly checked the display board to see where our train was supposed to come and if it was running late. It was indeed late, as he had predicted.

“Poltu, stay by me, okay?” Mama warned. There were so many people rushing around with huge bags, pushing and jostling, it would’ve been quite easy for us to lose one another.

I trotted close to Mama. There was a weird smell hanging in the air. It was the smell of smoke, sweat and food all rolled into each other. I sniffed hard. I thought it smelled of grown-up adventures.

Mama and I reached platform 11, from where our train was supposed to leave. We still had a good three hours to go. Mama spotted the edge of a bench that was empty and told me to sit on it. At other times, we just used our luggage as benches, but this time our small bags would not do.

“Where are you going?” I asked, as Mama set off as soon as I sat down, the two bags at my feet. There was a man sleeping on the bench, covered from head to toe in a scratchy old blanket. He was all curled up, so there was some space by his feet where I could sit.

“Thums Up!” was all Mama called out, before vanishing.

I sat there quietly, looking around me. I had read enough Feluda, Alex Rider and Famous Five stories to know that one always needed to observe one’s surroundings carefully. Who knew what mysteries lay hidden all around! For example, this man, who was sleeping next to me – why was he sleeping right here in the middle of the noisy platform with so many people rushing all around him?

A little black dog came sniffing around my feet. I looked at it carefully. Was it a stray? Or was it a detective’s sidekick, like Snowy?

“Poltu, take this.” I jumped at Mama’s loud voice in my ear. While I had been sitting and observing, he had gone to the refreshment stall. He held a brand-new Phantom comic in his hand! And a packet of Gems! “What? Are you happy now?” Mama grinned. I was so happy I could barely thank him. “Arrey, it’s your first time away from your mother. You deserve a little gift from your Mama.”

As I took the comic and the Gems from him, his eye flickered to the man sleeping by me. Did I imagine it, or did Mama’s expression become a little serious? But when I looked at him again, he was back to being my favourite uncle, the one who bought me 5 Star chocolates and told the best/worst knock-knock jokes.

“Won’t you sit, Mama?” I asked.

“Umm, no. You keep the seat. Are you going to read the comic now? Okay good, good,” Mama said, a bit absent-mindedly. “Poltu, keep an eye on the bags. I will be right back. Let me get the Thums Up.” Saying this, Mama disappeared again.

How odd! What was he up to? My Mama, or Shankar Das, is usually a fund of stories. He knows everything. He tells me about far-off places in India and outside, from Kashmir to Sri Lanka to Madagascar. He can do magic tricks. He can do huge sums very fast in his head. And best of all, none of us knows exactly what he does. Ma says he needs to get a job in an office. Whenever she says this, Mama laughs very hard. But if I ever ask him, “Where did you go today, Mama? Office?” he just shakes his head, laughs some more, and produces an egg from my nose. Ma was not too happy about sending me to Siliguri alone with him, muttering that he was “irresponsible”.

Mama has lived with us ever since I can remember. I know my father only from some photos in the house, but Mama has always been there. I had even gone to nursery school perched on his shoulder. But every few months, he disappears without a word. No one knows where he goes, or what he does. When he comes back from these mysterious trips, he is tired and sleeps almost all day. Then, in some time, he goes back to being the fun, jokey, absent-minded uncle I love so much.

This time, Ma had no choice but to send me off with him. Her own study trip to Finland was coming up and she needed to prepare for it. My mother is a climate scientist, and next year, she’s going to the Arctic Circle to study how the shrinking ice is affecting the polar bears. I have seen her reading reports with lots of numbers and graphs. They show how the ice is melting away fast, and the poor bears are not able to hunt like before. She needed this month to read and plan and study, so me going off to my grandparents’ house with Mama was the best solution for her.

And that’s how I ended up at Sealdah station, about to open the new Phantom comic. It had an exciting picture of the “Ghost Who Walks” on the cover, in his purple bodysuit, surrounded by his wolf and his horse, about to throw a punch at a villain. I opened the box of Gems and shook it till a red one popped up. I always eat a red one first. Then a blue, then a green.

The red Gems had almost leapt into my hand. Something sure was strange today! Usually, I really have to look for it. I put it into my mouth and stared at the open page on my lap.

Why were the pictures so hazy?

I could barely make out the words.

I brought the book closer to my eyes.

It was still hard to see.

Because … everything had gone black.

All the lights in the station blinked off as if someone had blown out a candle in one giant breath.

All around me was silence and darkness.