Fear is the Key

It was a cold January evening as I strolled in the Queens district of New York. The crowds were thinning as the night fell. I had packages of items just purchased, tucked under my arms as I stepped out of the store. My shoes slipped in the fresh snow as I made my way towards the Queen's village metro station.A recent light shower made walking difficult, due to the load of packages . A cold wind blew and swayed the trees making a rustling noise. I reached the station and purchased the ticket to the Grand  Penn station. The train arrived in and I boarded it quickly. There were just two or three passengers. At the next station, Hollis, two of them got down and two tall dark men entered the coach. They were drunk, and I could make out that these guys were not good! They looked like muggers about whom I had read.They were probably armed and one stupid move from my end could spell disaster! One of them who had curly hair and big white teeth looked at me and asked... 'where are you from' as they both occupied the seats facing mine. I  pretended, that I did not understand what they said. He got a little impatient while his colleague hurled a few abuses. My throat went dry, as I tried to speak. I made sign gestures by waving my hand and nodding my head that I did not understand them.A shroud of darkness and a few distant tinkling lights, which I could see, from the window were not very comforting. I wished that the train had more crowd as a Mumbai local!I  prayed silently for the ordeal to end, as the train entered Jamaica station and to my good luck a few more passengers got into the compartment. It was such a relief to find company! The two men realized the futility of talking further and I lowered my eyes to avoid eye contact with them. Every passing moment was like ages..In ten more minutes the train entered the Grand Central( Penn) station. I quickly disembarked and got lost in the crowd. I had never felt more insecure during my  visit and thanked god that I came out unharmed.