Saturday, February 7, 2009

A lost kid...

Vishal dropped his mother @ his cousins home in kankavli and came to Kankavli ST depot. Though there are not many buses @ 9pm, he was confident enuf that he will find some other private vehicle if not ST to Talere. Kankavli to Talere distance is 22km which takes around 30 mins on the Goa-Mumbai National Highway. Vishal let go one Asiad ST which was jam packed and waited for the next bus. Soon he got another Panji-Vijapur bus which was quite empty but still he dint get a seat. Just when the bus was heading towards Talere and the bus conductor was busy punching the tickets a man tapped on his back and asked him whether the bus has passed Fonda phata. Even Vishal was not sure so he asked the bus conductor, who said it has already passed Fonda phata. The man who was enquiring turned to the kid sitting on the seat next to him. The kid whose age was not more than 10 yrs looked worried. Vishal asked the man about the kid. The man replied, his name is Shubham and he wanted to go to Fonda but accidently got into Vijapur bus which doesnt go to Fonda atall. The only option which was left in front of Shubham was to get down @ Nandgaon and from there find a truck or some private vehicle to Fonda. Shubham almost about to turn into tears but somehow controlled his emotions. The conductor punched a Nandgaon fata ticket and gave him. Vishal asked the kid whether anyone from his home knows whether he has come to Kankavli. He replied "no". Vishal made his mind and decided to get down @ Nandgaon wd Shubham. He dint let Shubham know abt it. Shubham asked Vishal where he wants to get down. Vishal replied, "Talere". Shubham lost whatever little bit of hope which had cropped-in in his mind when he heard "Talere". The ST stopped @ Nandgaon phata, they both got down from the bus. Vishal asked Shubham to wait for a while. Mean while he enquired @ the tea-stall whether there is any ST @ this hour going towards Fonda. The guy @ the tea-stall suggested to take any truck or any other private vehicle coz there was no bus going towards FOnda @ that hour. Immediately an autorickshaw driver came rushing towards Shubham and started asking him something. When the guy saw a man near Shubham he went rushing towards him. Vishal neva wanted to give Shubham into unsafe hands. So he started looking @ the auto driver with suspicious eyes. But even that driver was very generous and he too started looking for any possible vehicle which cud drop Shubham till Fonda. At one point Vishal thot of taking that kid back to Kankavli and spend nyt @ his cousin's home. God forbid, but who will be responsible if anything happens to him and his parents will also be worried for him back home. Vishal rang up his uncle who stays @ Talere and told him about the situation coz ppl were waiting for him @ Talere. He wasnt worried abt how he will reach Talere but was worried abt Shubham. Vishal cud have even gone all the way to Fonda to drop him and come back in morning but he was tied up since he was staying @ his uncle's place and dint wanted to create problems for his uncle's family. Meantime, the auto rick driver asked a truck driver who had parked his truck since long time. The truck driver was from Fonda and he was going back home, so he readily agreed to drop Shubham till FOnda. Vishal still was bit worried abt Shubham since he was not sure whether he has given that kid in safe hands... He quietly pushed a small chit in Shubham's pocket which had a mobile number and told to give him a call, wdout fail when he reaches Fonda. Accidently he wrote his uncle's number instead of his, till the time he realize his mistake the truck had already left. Vishal thanked the rick driver for his support on which the driver replied, "Ultimately, i was going to drop him, that was the last option i had in my mind." Vishal then got a truck which dropped him till Talere. His uncle was ready with the bike keys and was about to come to Nandgaon to pick him up if he wont have reached Talere in another hour.. Soon when he reached Talere, he got a call from an unknown number and someone said "me pohochalo".. i have reached.. There was happiness in those two words which travelled over the wireless carrier and reached Talere till his uncle's house and brought smile and a sigh of relief to everyone @ his uncle's home.

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