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 It was very cold that day, the dew-soaked atmosphere was becoming very hazy. The weather in Rajbari was mostly pleasant and pleasant, but the winter season was bitterly cold. Even the sun set early in Rajbari, there was a very high mud hill to the west. At the foot of this mountain and right in front of it was the railway station of Rajbari. As the sun sank behind the hills, deep evening shadows spread over the entire station. At half past nine in the night, the train used to arrive and only after that I would go to my quarters. This was my routine but sometimes it happened that I left early too. Actually in small railway stations there was no fixed time for the station master.To the east was the home signal of the railway, from which my quarters were a short distance away. Looking at a third-class railway station like Rajbari, this quarter seemed similar to me, so I fell in love with this ancient landmark left by the usurping British and this quarter under the custody of Raja Mahara Jaon. There was a henna fence around the quarter and there was a small iron gate as soon as you entered through this door there was also a small lawn on the right side of the henna fence as well as a long garden with vegetables growing on it. were After the lawn there was a quadrangular hall, and the first room upon ascending it was the drawing-room, which had the appearance of an English-style residence.On the floor there was a very thick striped cloth. A wooden divan was placed on one side and on the other There was a big sofa set on the side. The British had gone but their mortgages had left their mark.

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It had been one and a half years since I came here as station master. Thus, the railway station of Rajbazi was considered to be a very big station but since the copper and iron deposits were discovered in the areas near Rajbari, its status and importance increased a lot. In addition to the Dale line to Calcutta, six more lines were laid here and four new but crude pot-forms were also constructed where a diesel and a crane and a shunting association were also brought in to enable them to transport goods.That day I got back to my quarters at about 6:00 p.m. It was getting dark and the wireman was cleaning the carpets and his wife had gone back after making dinner for me as I was alone. So wireman Jasimuddin and his wife Chanda used to take care of my quarters. They both lived in the railway workers' quarters about half a furlong from my quarters. Today I had an early dinner and was very hungry and Chanda had prepared my favorite dish.Jasimuddin took the food utensils and placed them in the kitchen and brought two lanterns to the drawing room, then he prepared a haqqa for me and placed it on the small tripod in front of me, and the mixed smell of tobacco slowly spread through the room. was going After coming to Rajbari, I started drinking Haqqah. Haqqah is also a companion of loneliness. I was fond of only two things in my life, one was shooting and the other was reading, but after coming to Rajbari, I became the third. A passion was also born and that was the passion of drinking Haqqah.Every week a bundle of newspapers and magazines regularly arrived for me from the city. Hakka used to gurgle and when I wanted to sleep, he would get up and come to bed.

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Such are the days of my life there was no beauty in them and no heartiness. There was no pomp and ceremony. A certain life that sometimes felt like a cold cruel wind to me, but I was forced to cut this life. Sometimes I used to think that magazines come into my life, "What kind of life would this life be if it wasn't for newspapers and Haqqa?"Sometimes the railway officers Bala Ashaf or Dr. Sriwal and Rajhadi from Calcutta

Dr. Malhotra of K went out and engineers working in copper mine etc. in my quarters

They used to come and pass the time by chatting and laughing. In this way, sometimes Inspector Jaswan of Rajbazi Police Station used to visit me to spend his time, then I felt very good, I did not know how the time was passing.That day, Jasimuddin had also done all his work very quickly and after eating I wiped my face and hands with a towel and held the khaki in my hand. Jasimuddin was standing waiting for an order from me. On his head he had tied a hot scarf and on his body he had put a railway police coat on his body. He was tall and thick. He respected me a lot. He was not more than eleven years old, but he looked fifty years old.I took a deep breath and allowed him to go to my house. I could hear his footsteps as he greeted me and stormed out the door.

At half past nine in the night I heard the last whistle of the ice-up train near the outdoor signal, so I looked at my wrist watch as per my habit, the train was not late at all.The door signals were located at a distance of one and a half kilometers, but the sound of the train could be heard clearly even there. After a while the thump got closer and then the train passed in front of my quarters and reached the platform. You used to stop here only for four minutes and only passengers used to get off and on. Three such passenger trains used to pass through here, out of which only two cars stopped at this station for two to four minutes.Apart from this, two local vehicles used to come and go from Asan-Sol, but when the nine-up train came, there was excitement and excitement for a while at this Sansan station.The initiative started to appear, the signs of life were born.


To be Continue........