The Boy
The boy must be in class 3rd.
Yellow shirt, cheque pants, black shoes. Thin – very thin, heavy school bag,
but what caught my eyes was the fear in his eyes. There were 3 cars in front of
me – every time the child wanted to cross the road some car/ truck / tempo
traveller would move an inch or a motorbike would screech to a halt or somebody
would honk loudly & he would step back. Grasping his bag more tightly as
time went by I could read his mind – Late for class, again. As I moved closer to him - I told him. WAIT! Go to zebra
crossing!! Should I drop you ahead?
I don’t think he understood – but
I felt him loosen up, smile. The car in front of me moved ahead & as I
inched ahead my eyes were glued to the boy in my side view mirror, after some
time I saw him walk through the maze of traffic. My eyes followed, but my heart
was in my mouth. Zig Zagging between the cars, bikes, trucks he managed to
reach the other end. Both of us smiled together, heaved a sigh of relief and
moved ahead - he toward his school, me towards my office.
Mission Accomplished! Phew!!
The couple
They were very old – definitely 70+.
They were on the other side of road at the bus stand. I was on the opposite side
of the road waiting for the light to go green. It was a long wait and as I sat
there waiting I spotted them. The lady was holding the man, firmly and speaking
to him continuously. Both of them looked terrified, they were waiting for a bus
to board. Every time a bus would come the lady would move ahead & try to
read the no of the bus then come back first hold her husband’s hand & say
something loudly – I guess that this is not the bus. As they moved towards the
bus they had to battle the regular office goers – so once they were sure the
bus is not the right one, they would go away from the crowd & stand in the
corner. Both of them wearing heavy spectacle and I presume they had difficulty
in reading the no.
This went on for 5 buses and I
moved on. I don’t know if they got the bus, but for the rest of my journey
& a long time after that the scene played out in front of me – the understanding
between the couple a mix of worry, relief & the comfort which they could
only provide to each other.
Written on 17th Jan 2015
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