This post is a continuation of one of my previous post... Yes I didn’t expect that I will be continuing it but the turn of events lead to this post.. Last night I was speaking to my mum, and I narrated her my cab driver's missing child's incident. And she remembered this one incident that happened many years back...
Me and my sis were quite young around 10 years old may be.. And this one fine day - we were going out somewhere in Mumbai with my mum and grandpa in local train. It so happened that my grandpa got in the train in the males compartment, me n my sis got in the ladies compartment. Unfortunately my mum couldn’t make it before the train hit the tracks..Mum kept running along with the train, trying to get in.. The passengers on the platform didn’t let her try getting in as it was too risky to board a running train.
I and my sis panicked. We started crying and screaming in the train and my mum started crying and screaming on the platform.. as the distance between the train and mum increased, mum's face was fading away in distance, and fearful and horrible thoughts grew bigger in my little mind. My sis being elder, felt more responsible and was just trying to console me, but I had just freaked out so much that I started imagining life without mum and me n my sis struggling around to live a lost life in this big city - Mumbai.
We didn’t have any money, or phone or anything to contact anybody. We were so young that we wouldn’t have known, what train to take back home.
Before I could imagine anything more dreadful the train stopped at the next station and one lady got both of us off the train.. we were handed over to a hawaldar over there on the next station. We were in tears, the constable tried asking us something in Marathi... We didn’t know what he is speaking, we were scared of his big personality and mustaches. Suddenly I felt like I am in the world where I don’t know anybody anymore and don’t understand what people speak. I felt so lost, I kept holding my elder sis's hand tight so that I don’t get separated from her too - the only person I knew around me. We kept sitting on the bench with the hawaldar not knowing what else to do.
On the other hand mum had managed to inform the train authorities about this incident and so they stopped the train for longer than usual at this next station so that we could get off the train. Grandpa totally unaware about this incident, like other passengers started wondering what was going on and why the train was not starting. So he got off the train, like couple of other passengers and I saw him coming towards us. My eyes sparkled at the thought of reuniting with grandpa. But before he could come to us, train started moving again, and so all the passengers who had got off started getting in again. And so did the grandpa..
No we lost him again. This was not as expected. I started crying louder this time. I don’t really know, what my sis was thinking, but m sure she was totally freaked out too..The train left the platform and in no time, there was another train approaching the platform. As the train was approaching to halt, I remembered faintly that when me and my sis got separated from our mother, one lady in our compartment told my mum, 'Don’t worry, I will take your daughters n get off at the next station, you take next train n come to next station too... "
And the moment I remembered this - I realized that it was the same lady who took us to this hawaldar, and if mum would have heard her, she should be in this train approaching. My eyes kept looking for mum - and finally the train stops, and people started getting off the train. And I saw mum.. I screamed with joy and excitement, and tried running towards the train. But the constable held me tight and we just waited for mum to get off the train and come to us...I hugged mum so tight still terrified at the thought of separation.
May be it was just the matter of 15-20 minutes we were away from mum, but the whole world seemed upside down, nothing seemed to be falling in place, there was this heaviness in the heart, that was sinking me and my sis and my mum too somewhere...
What would have happened that day, if we were not reunited? I can’t even imagine, my mum still screams out loud when she remembers that day.
There were two other similar incidents, but somehow this one has left an impression in my mind, that could never leave my mind. Thank God, that everything fell in place and thank God, that my cabbie found his kid back!
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