The Sergeant

“The Cab will be here in 5 minutes, let us get down or due to late hours even this cab will get cancelled”. Ratti took the stairs along with her mother, her sister-in-law and two small nieces.

“There it is!” Ratti waved her hand after checking the car number plate along with the number displayed on her mobile app. She took the three-year-old niece on her lap and sat beside the driver’s seat. Rest sat behind.

The driver said, “Madam OTP, and please wear your seat belt”.

She told him the number and their cab headed towards the destination.

Ratti said to her sister-in-law “I think the little one has slept”.

It was around midnight, and Ratti and her family had attended a wedding ceremony hence, they were late to wrap up. Everyone was tired and a bit sleepy. Sensing that silence was making them drowsier Ratti asked the driver to put on some song on the FM radio station.

A very old Bollywood song on the track. Thinking about the childhood days Ratti asked her mother cheerfully, “Do you remember, how fearful I was after watching this horror movie?” and giggled.

Her mother replied “Yes, I remember my child” and smiled.

I am sure most of us will agree whenever topics related to suspense/ thriller or horror are initiated, people tend to take interest and add up their own experiences. The cab driver was no different, he looked at the rearview mirror with a curious smile and asked “Do you believe in Ghosts Madam?”

Ratti intentionally did not reply because she wanted him to focus on his driving rather than talking to them. She changed the FM Radio Station but the cab driver continued with full enthusiasm.

Observing his excitement, Ratti’s mother asked him,” Have you ever encountered a Ghost?”

Ratti knew that his answer would be ‘No’, so she gazed outside the window.

Surprisingly, he said, “Yes, I have”. This caught her attention and she raised her eyebrows with a slight smile.

The driver continued…

Last month, I often used to get late for home. I was waiting at the signal of PG Hospital’s -Mental Trauma Centre. Suddenly, a tall lean body Sergeant waved to a halt. Since I was on my way back home I was reluctant to make another ride. Before I could utter, the Sergeant opened the gate of the car, sat behind the back seat and said, “Go straight”.

Since he was a Sergeant I co-operated and drove to where he directed me to go.

Sensing him to be an introverted person, I kept the conversation to a minimum. But I was surprised when he himself spoke and said” Road accidents have increased in the city. Make sure you wear a seat belt and follow traffic rules.”

I nodded my head in acceptance. The Sergeant once again said, “Now take a left turn and stop”. He gave me the fare and left.

After a couple of days, I again saw the same Sergeant. He had become a regular passenger. We had developed a small bond of silence with time. Everything was going smoothly until one night, I broke our silence and asked him “Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, who all are there in your family? You must be a blessed person whose family waits for you even at late hours of duty”.

He slightly bit his lower lip in disappointment and replied, “I have no one in my family”

The moment I looked back in order to tell him his present cab fare, there was no one in the back seat. I had chills in my back spine. Since then, I haven’t seen him anymore. Much later, I came to know from my other fellow drivers that they too had faced a similar scenario with a Sergeant. 

In the cab…

Ratti replied in dismay, “But where did he go? Were you able to see him?”

The driver said, “No, not really Madam. While driving I adjusted the rear back view mirror but his face was not visible as he was wearing his Sergeant’s cap. I could only watch his chin and long nose.”                  

Somehow, from the look of his eyes, Ratti understood that the driver was making up stories as he was fumbling with words.

Ratti asked the driver with a smile “Were you scared?”

The Driver said, “No, I was not because I could not see his face. He appeared absolutely normal. But I keep narrating this story to every passenger”.

Ratti, “But why so? There is no need to narrate this story to everyone”.

The Driver giggled and replied, “It gives me immense happiness to flaunt as to how brave I was to encounter a ghost”.

Ratti with an astute smile, “I am a bit disappointed that you couldn’t see his eyes?”

He shrugged his shoulder and replied naively, “Perhaps, Ghosts don’t have eyes” and chuckled.

There was a weird smile on Ratti’s face, “Take a left turn and stop”. She looked back and said firmly to her co-passengers, “It’s time to leave”.

Ratti looked into the Drivers’ eyes. It was the first time throughout the journey, they had eye contact with each other.  She replied with a smile, “Henceforth, you can narrate a fresh new story to your passengers that Ghosts do have eyes”.

Within a fraction of a second, all of them dissolved in the air.

The Driver was stunned and speechless!

Next morning.

The driver recapitulated the entire incident that happened the previous night. He was restless and decided to take the day off from work. Suddenly he took his mobile phone and opened the Cab booking app. He fiddled with the app to get some information and softly murmured to himself “How is that possible!”.

There was no last ride made from that pick-up point. Neither was there any booking during late hours. There was no trace of the number from which the booking was made. So, are Ghosts tech-savvy or was the driver hallucinating after the long tiring work schedule?

Sweta Gupta