Enthralling Trails

Bahadur stood near the gate to greet us with a Salam Sahib. He was extremely short, just around five feet tall with the beginnings of a paunch that was quite contradictory to the post he held. He not very fair, but he had long hands, kind brown eyes and straight black hair. He resembled an Indian in his features and was in his late thirties. The first time I met him, I asked my husband who he was though the uniform he had adorned spoke about his occupation. He said, ‘Bahadur’. I asked him, ‘Wasn’t Bahadur the tall fair man who managed the office’. He said, ‘That Bahadur has gone home and this man is a replacement’ I said, ‘Is this one a substitute or a permanent employee’. My husband was getting annoyed by the wholly of questions, yet he said, ’None of them is permanent, and they are all Bahadur’ I said, ‘Are they brave or are they christened ‘Bahadur’ at birth’. My voice got drowned in the shrill sound of the traffic as my husband walked down the parking to drive the car that we had p