Pingalika - A short story
Kumardubi is the last station before the terminus at Dhanbad of the Black Diamond Express and that is where Satish Bhardwaj from Palo Alto disembarked after a pleasant four-hour journey from Howrah. Kumardubi would have been one of the many non-descript railway stations that most of India outside the coal belt would not have heard of, but of late it had become famous as the railhead to the Panchet Technopolis that lay at the vibrant heart of the technology industry of East India. Satish could have taken a flight to Andal too, but with time on his hands, he had opted for the old-fashioned railway. In this he had been rather lucky because this year, the Palash bloom had been stupendous and right from Asansol onwards he had been rewarded with the sight of hundreds of trees along the railway tracks that were literally glowing scarlet with this very special seasonal flower. But Satish was not here for Palash flowers. As a venture capitalist from the Silicon Valley, he was planning to meet a...
