By Savitri Narayanan
The morning was still cool and rather quiet. Ayush picked up his school bag and stepped out.
“Be careful, betey,” said his mother once again smoothening his well-oiled hair, “Look both ways before you cross the road, ok?”
The Koppergaon Primary School was about fifteen minutes walking distance. Ayush walked all by himself along the village lanes till the Hill Road junction. Across the road was the ration shop behind which Kunal, Sulaiman and his sister lived. They would meet up at the shop’s gate and walk together.
Being the arterial road to Nainital, the Hill Road was rather busy at all times. Usually at the junction there was a traffic policeman on duty too.
The village lanes were rather quiet in the mornings. Most were out at work in the fields or in their workplaces. At home, too, the women were busy indoors with the household tasks. Apart from a grandparent reading the paper in the verandah, Ayush hardly met anyone on the way.
After the large gate of the Choudhuri’s bungalow, the road turned left to the fields and to the right towards Hill Road. It was here that Ayush saw it! There it was, a purse on the road! It was thick, made of black leather. Ayush picked it up and wondered what to do. He looked around but there was no one in sight to seek guidance from. He opened the purse and was shocked to see it was full of notes, thickly packed!
Ayush got scared. He had never seen so much money before and here he was standing on the road holding a purse full of notes! Whose money was it? What if the owner came back searching for his money and saw Ayush! Would he beat him up? Would he be taken to the police station? What if a villager caught him with the purse?
With every passing thought Ayush got more worried. On the other hand, he also felt sorry for the owner who must be so unhappy at this moment!
‘If only I could find the owner and return the purse,’ he thought.
The thought was followed by fear that he would be mistaken for and branded a thief!
‘If only someone would come along, who knew what to do,’ thought Ayush. Walking back home was just not practical as he would be late for school. Probably he could carry it to school and hand it over to his teacher but the thought of holding onto so much money was scary.
‘What if I put it back where I found it and proceed to school?’ thought Ayush. ‘Only cowards would do that,’ said a voice inside. ‘Whereas honest responsible people would make an effort to help!’
Ayush continued to walk covering the purse with his school bag. He was afraid of being caught with the purse.
At the junction stood the traffic policeman looking at his watch and the traffic. Ayush summoned courage and approached him.
‘Good morning, sir! Found this purse there on the road near the Choudhuri bungalow gate! Please return it to the owner!’
Before the traffic policeman could respond Ayush had crossed the road and disappeared.
***
Once in school, Ayush tried to forget the incident but the more he tried, the more it came back to his mind! As the long bell chimed for the morning assembly, the students and staff headed for the hall and took their position.
To everyone’s surprise verging on shock, next to the principal madam there stood a uniformed policeman! Another policeman, the village Pradhan and the managing trustee of the school were also present. Within no time all grew silent and the assembly was underway. After the national anthem, Principal madam came forward.
“All of you must be surprised and a little worried also,” smiled the principal. “We usually see policemen where there’s trouble like a fight, accident or a theft; it’s rare to see a policeman in school! Today it’s my pleasure to welcome Inspector Shirodkar, Koppergaon Police Station, to our school. He has something important to share with you but before I hand over the mike to him there’s one of our students who needs to come forward”.
There was pin-drop silence as they wondered who could be the student needing to face the assembly.
All eyes were on madam as she continued, “None of us know the student’s name but have a clue; this morning he’s given something to a policeman on duty!”
This was getting more exciting and mysterious! There was total silence as madam looked closely at the rows of students and said,
“The boy who handed over something to the traffic policeman on duty at the junction signal, please come forward! Now!”
The silence grew heavier as everyone looked around to see who would come forward. Who would own up having given something to the traffic policeman? What was it that he gave?
Ayush who stood at the rear end of the Class II row felt really scared. Would he get punished? Would he be taken to the police station? What did he do wrong? What should he have done? What to do now?
As the thoughts rose in the mind, his legs grew slightly shaky.
“Come forward, child,” madam’s voice was kind but firm. “None of us saw you but we know that God keeps an eye on everyone of us, isn’t it? Nothing is hidden from His glance!”
‘That’s what maji says,’ thought Ayush, ‘God knows what I wanted is to help, to return the purse.’
All eyes were on Ayush. Strangely he felt more at peace. His steps grew steadier as he held his head high and walked confidently. The principal madam held his hand with a smile and handed over the mike to the police inspector.
“This young man here is a hero,” said the policeman as he held up Ayush’s palm. “I am pleased to congratulate this boy for his thoughtful act. Ayush himself will tell us what happened this morning.”
Ayush grew more relaxed and even enjoyed describing the events. As he concluded, the principal madam asked, “Anybody got questions?”
“Why did you give it to the traffic policeman?”
“He was wearing his uniform! Also, every day we see him helping to control the traffic! We all know how the police catch thieves and help when people get injured in an accident!”
The policeman took the mike from Ayush, patted his back affectionately and said, “It’s our duty to help the public and we’re able to do our duties thanks to the support from the community; it’s honest, thoughtful and resourceful children like you who grow up into responsible citizens of this world!”
The principal madam complimented Ayush once again and said, “The police station has gifted us a big basket full of laddus! Have yours before you go to the class!”
(Savitri Narayanan is a retired educationist at present in Goa. A mother and grandmother, loves reading, writing and travelling.)
