I was getting off the VT railway station with my big yellow umbrella today morning. It was a nice rainy day. As I getting out opening my umbrella, a very young boy in a school uniform came upto me, “uncle, mujhe andar aane do na”
“aaja hero, kidhar jar aha hai?”… We start walking. I try to crouch to ensure he’s covered under the umbrella better. Finally I figure that the only way is to put my arm around him and his bag to get the coordinates better and match foot speed.
“mera school handloom house ke wahan hai. Aaj idhar bus ka pass banana aaya tha”
“lekin main toh idhar bus stop tak hi jaa raha hun” “ok”. I think a while and then figure that what the hell. A small detour will get the kid to school without wet socks. Oh yes… one of the big memories of school during rains is dirty wet socks hung at various angles to dry on the benches. Yup, lots of them were stinking. Boys are ungly
“Chal main aaj tereko school chod ta hun”
Hmmmmmmm………..
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“pass acha hai kya?” I asked.
“haan. Pachaas rupiya mein full month unlimited jaa sakta hai. Smart card hai. Waise roj ka che rupiyah hota hai. Dus din mein hi sixty ho jata hai. Pass se JJ se handloom house kitna bhi chaho ghum sakte ho”
We had further conversation on school times, the fact that he is 5 minutes late, his mom is going to be called, that he is going to be marched out to school office etc etc. we reached his school and he thanked me and apologized for me being late thanks to him. Oh chill, I tell him, I am an hour early for office. Bye kid nice knowing you. Bye uncle. The uncle tag on me wears very well.... very well indeed.
5 minutes with an absolute stranger kid left me with such delight
gives the reader a nice feeling too :)
ReplyDeleten i was jus thinking today tht something like this is very likely to happen in bombay - it is the land of the heart across all ages! - dirgha.