Mysterious Man

I was studying in my second-year MBBS. Our college was organizing an all India level conference in medicine. As it was a national conference, delegates from all over the country were coming to our city Agra. From second-year students about twenty of us were made volunteers pick up the delegates from railway station and drop them to their hotels. One day was reserved for taj mahal trip on buses and we had to accompany them and attend them if they needed any help.

We used to have four or five trips a day as the number of delegates was very high. We were enjoying this thing as we were meeting doctors from different states. We are also having the opportunity of seeing five-star hotels of Agra and sometimes sharing snacks and tea with the delegates.

We all were very excited and we were working with great enthusiasm as there were no classes and it was a sort of fun for us. In one of our trips to taj mahal I and my friend came across a delegate from the south. He was an old man, very simple and looked confused. He could not understand Hindi very well and so having trouble in purchasing things. He used to say only a few words as thank you or very kind of you.

We both went to him and asked if he needed any help. He took both hands in his hand and kept rubbing for about two minutes and said thank you. I said ''Sir this is my duty''.he replied '' you are so kind, this is not just duty, this is more than that''.the the same thing got repeated with my friend in the second encounter. We both used to tease each other that sir likes you very much.

We thought of doing a prank with one of our friends and told him that this delegate was asking for him. As he came back we asked what happened. He told us that he was a very simple man and the same thing happened to him. This time he also hugged our friend. I and my friend shared a smile with each other. However, we did not suspect anything too odd till then. However, whenever in a room in the hostel three of us used to meet we discussed the behavior of that delegate and we used to call him a mysterious character.

On another trip to the market he tried to buy us gifts from the shop but we refused. We still thought that he may be doing this out of love only as he was about fifty-sixty years of age and looked very simple.

On the last day of the conference, we both have to take this delegate from hotel to railway station in an auto. As we reached the hotel I stayed at the reception and my friend went to the room. After five minutes he came back and told me that sir is calling you. As I went to the room he offered me peanuts I had a few of them. Suddenly he stood up and hugged me and I had a feeling that he tried to kiss me. I pushed him gently and rushed out of the room. My friend was standing there smiling and literally started laughing.so now I knew the same thing has already happened to him.

We hurriedly put his belongings in the auto. We both were sitting in the back seat with him. My friend cleverly sat beside me and I had to sit next to the delegate. During the journey, he tried to touch me at different places as if thinking '' something is better than nothing''. I barely was able to save my honor.

When we came back to the hostel we were not in a position to tell anyone about this as all would have made a mockery of us. We laughed for about half an hour recalling all the events.

When I thought of the peanuts I had with him, I had to vomit them out by putting my finger in the throat as it came to my mind that there may be something fishy in those peanuts too.

Now about thirty years have passed till this incident. Whenever there is a batch meet of our class and I meet my friend this incidence always comes in our discussion and every time we laugh for about half an hour on this. However, still, we have not told any of our friends about the incidence. We still could not come to a conclusion about the personality of that person and he still is a mysterious man to us.