Badhboo

“The train is heavily crowded today. On Sundays too, there isn’t enough space to even stand and travel to Mumbai! This summer, the heat is unbearable. Why don’t the railways install ACs inside the compartments!” Mahek mumbled to herself exasperatingly. She was totally wet due to constant perspiration. The frequent drops of sweat on and around her neck, and behind the ear, was slipping down to her front and back. Her handkerchief got so wet, as if she dipped into a bucketful of water. She even felt like wringing her handkerchief to dry off her sweat, but ceased herself doing it, as she didn’t want her sweat to get sprinkled upon other commuters. People barely had any space to stand on two legs, as at every station, many people were trying to barge inside the already overcrowded boogie. If three passengers alighted, seven to eight people tried shoving into the compartment. This unbalanced ratio of passengers getting on and down the train, carried on throughout the journey. 

It had been an hour since the journey began, and she felt the need to quench her thirst. That was a mighty task too. Unclasping her hand from the handle above, she slid her hand into her bag. After reaching the water bottle, she opened it and gulped down four to five sips of water together. Although commuting to office is a daily routine for her, she still detests this frequent sweltering and dampness of her clothes.

She realised, that she started sweating more after consuming water. After a while, she felt like few passengers around her, were trying to maintain distance from her. She ignored it initially, but later realised due to their vague facial expressions, that she was stinking. Her body odour was exuding the stench of her sweat nearby her area. 

She ignored this reek at the beginning; however, the smell overpowered her own senses gradually. When nobody was looking at her, she attempted smelling around her armpits, and it was ‘obnoxious.’ She felt to stand on the rooftop of the train and travel till Mumbai, by doing this way, the dampness of her clothes and smell, both would have evaporated away, but her life would go away too, hence she quit the plan, and besides, it was illegal as well. 

She desperately started searching body-spray to ease off the odour, but all in vain. She forgot to carry it that day in her bag. She was going for an interview that day, and she suddenly realised that she didn’t want her to be accused of intoxicating the HR due to her body odour. 

She got off the train at the next station, finished off the water from her bottle, and walked to the other platform for her way back home. 

Quite teasingly, her thoughts recalled her to change her name from ‘Mahek’ to ‘Badhboo.’