“No, I am not married” I replied a tad sternly, but the sternness went unnoticed by this prying fellow who sat on the opposite berth with a kid sleeping next to him. It was 10pm and all I wanted to do was read my book. But, this middle aged man kept coming up with all sort of personal questions as he rubbed his palms together sprinkling some kind of coarse powder on the floor.

“What is the purpose of your visit to Patna?”

“Do you have any relatives there?”

“Yes.” I lied. I didn’t want him to know that I would be a stranger to the place.

“Madam... what is your full name?”

“Sorry what?” I raised my head from pretending to read.

 “Full name, surname?” he motioned his head up and down as a gesture of questioning.

“Uh, it’s Shaheen Sarbhan.”

“Shaheen sarbhan... strange... Mohammeden name, Hindu surname, strange. Sarbhan...hmm...which caste is that?”

“Bhai Saab, now this cast creed, religion is old concept. No good comes out of it. It’s better to keep it out of conversation.”

“Oh, no, yes, that is fine.” A moment later... “Must be OBC. No need to hesitate. These days belonging to a lower caste is considered a privilege because of all the quotas and reservations.”

Did this guy really say that to me? After a couple of minutes he spoke again. “What do you do for earning money? You look like you earn a decent living.”

This was too much. He was close to knowing me better than my mother. I decided to give my best shot at lying.

“I am an Aayaa.” Did I really say that? Fun had just started. He had the same look on his face as the 6^th century Greeks when Pythagoras suggested that Earth was spherical.

“Aayaa?”

“Yes. You know those who take care of other people’s babies.”

“No No. I know. You look like a well-educated decent woman.”

“Well, who said Aayaas are indecent and uneducated?”

“But why Aayaa?”

“I just love kids. I work in 5 houses with 12 children all together. Oh such a pleasure it is. I could just eat them up. Sometimes I just wish all of them were mine and I could just take them all away with me. Hmmm.”  I sighed, and a moment later I said, “Hey!! Is that your kid?”

The man looked spooked, he drew his kid closer to him and never left him alone, not even to go to the toilet. He did not speak another word with me for the entire journey.