Location: Sarangpur Railway Station
The train departed with a screech of rusted iron, leaving Aryan standing on a platform that felt like the edge of the world. The heat was a physical blow.
The midday sun over Sarangpur was a physical weight, thick with the scent of dry hay and woodsmoke. Aryan Varma stepped off the rusted train, his Italian leather boots immediately coated in a fine, ochre dust. He adjusted his sunglasses, looking around the dilapidated station platform with a sneer of pure physical revulsion. To him, this wasn't a "homeland"—it was a graveyard of ambition.
"Is this it?" Aryan muttered, wiping his brow with a silk handkerchief. "The GPS says 'Sarangpur,' but all I see is dust and existential dread. Where is the station master? I need a car."
A few feet away, leaning against a pillar, Meera was waiting for a delivery of medical supplies. She watched him—a man who looked like he had been dropped from a different planet, dressed in a suit that cost more than the station’s annual budget. She walked over, carrying a cool earthen pot.
"The station master is also the postman," Meera said calmly, her voice a steady contrast to his frantic energy. "And right now, he’s at lunch. You look like you’re melting, city boy. Drink this." She held out a small clay cup filled with water.
Aryan looked at the clay pot as if it contained poison. "Is that filtered? I don't do 'local' water. I’ll wait for my driver. He should have been here twenty minutes ago."
Meera didn't pull the pot away. She simply looked at him with eyes that saw through the expensive fabric of his shirt. "The driver will be an hour. The bridge at the entrance is narrow, and there’s a bullock cart stuck. The sun doesn't care about your brand of bottled water, Aryan. Thirst is a great equalizer—though I suspect you haven't learned that yet."
Aryan scoffed, turning his back to her. "I've learned that money buys solutions. I'll wait."
"Fine," Meera replied, turning to leave. "The shade of that tree is free. Everything else will cost you your patience."
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