By Savitri Narayanan
“Robin beta, come, it’s dinner time!” called out madam as she surveyed the dining table.
Minakshi madam loved good food, knew a lot about cooking too. Doctor saab and madam had plenty of friends and often hosted parties. Vishwas and Urmila ensured there was good food on the table!
“Where’s the salad?” asked Minakshi.
Now that their only son Robin was a teenager on a growth spurt, she was particular about the nutrition and looked closely into the daily menu.
“It’s in the fridge, madam,” it was Urmila who stepped out of the kitchen to answer, “Let Robin babu come down!”
Dr Indraneel walked in with a delighted smile, “I smell fish, delicious river fish!”
“Yes sir, it’s your favourite bombil tonight!” Vishwas said respectfully, “Crisply fried, just the way you like!”
“It’s past eight o’ clock!” Minakshi called out, “Robin, aren’t you hungry?”
“I’m doing my homework, mom,” came the answer, “A few more minutes!”
“Take your time, beta,” said the doctor, “No compromise on studies!”
Proud and happy, both the parents leaned back in their chairs but the word ‘homework’ shifted Vishwas to another world, another time, the time when he too was a high school student like Robin….
“Take out your homework notebooks, keep today’s page open,” said Mathew sir.
Mathew sir taught them Maths. He had his own way of checking the homework. They would stand up with their books open as Mathew sir went around briskly, crossing a line across each one’s page. No corrections were done as the objective was to spot the non-doers!
“Vishwas, how about you?” came the question, sarcasm oozing from his voice. Vishwas stood with his head bent, the page blank, left palm outstretched.
The stick banged twice, so hard that the palm turned pink!
“OUT”, commanded sir and Vishwas stepped out, his head still bent, followed by the taunt, “Instead of wasting time here, go sweep the streets or wash dishes in a hotel!”
Vishwas just could not understand Maths! He did make an attempt to do the sums but invariably got them wrong! There was nobody to help him at home or in the neighbourhood. Neither his parents, nor his two elder sisters, had attended schools.
There stood Vishwas outside the classroom door, feeling sorry for himself, ‘Mathew sir is right, I don’t fit in here!’ he thought as he nursed his palm which still hurt, ‘There must be better things to do in life, ways to earn some money and be happy!’
Vishwas thought quickly and made up his mind.
“Delhi is a big city, the capital of our country, there I’ll surely find something to do,” he thought.
The bell chimed thrice.
Now that he’d made up his mind, Vishwas was quick as wind! Before Mishra sir entered the class or the other students realised what was happening, he’d picked up his bag and was out of the school gate!
Vishwas’ sole aim was to reach Delhi. From Kashipur, whenever he went to nanaji’s house near Meerut, he had noticed many buses headed for Delhi. Vishwas ran towards the main road and entered a bus where he was swallowed by the crowd!
“I completed my homework, mamma!” Robin came bouncing down the stairs, “We had to draw a diagram of the digestive system! I love Science!”
“Focus on your studies,” said the doctor, “You may grow up to be a renowned scientist.”
“Like Albert Einstein or Homi Bhabha,” added a smiling Minakshi.
Vishwas and Urmila served food with meticulous care and refilled the bowls as the family ate happily.
“Vishwas kaka, the food is so tasty, can’t stop eating,” said Robin, “Who cooked for you when you were a student?”
“Some more kheer?” Vishwas evaded the question but thought, ‘You’re lucky to have parents like them whereas all I got was beatings for not doing homework!’
Robin persisted, “Vishwas kaka, where did you learn to cook so well? Your food is so tasty, you could have been a chef in a five star hotel!”
“Robin beta, don’t give him ideas, he might actually go and join a five star hotel,” Dr Indraneel laughed aloud, “Then what’ll we eat?”
“That’s true,” Minakshi agreed, “For the past twenty years Vishwas and Urmila have been feeding us!”
Dr Mukherjee agreed, “Not only us but our guests too, so many of them! You’ve done so much for us and we took you for granted!”
Vishwas said with folded palms,
“Babuji, for us you’re God! It’s YOU who’ve given us a home, a life, an identity…”
Robin was surprised to see them get so emotional.
“Vishwas kaka, what exactly happened, when did you meet papa and mummy?” he persisted.
“Betey, like you, I too was a high school student once but then I left home and boarded a bus to Delhi…”
“Your parents, didn’t they stop you?”
“I didn’t take their permission; I wasn’t good in studies so everyday got punishment and one day ran away from school!”
“And then?”
“Got into a bus to Delhi, roamed around, often starved, ate leftovers. A dhabawala took pity on me. I stayed in his kitchen, helped in cooking, cleaning, washing the dishes, etc. That’s where your grandfather saw me and brought me here as the cook!”
“Oh! My! This sounds like a story! But didn’t your family track you or report to the police?”
“I don’t know, Robin beta! Never thought of it!”
“You mean for them you’re ‘lost’! How happy they’ll be to see you again!”
Dr Mukherjee and Minakshi madam too got pulled into the conversation.
“Apart from your parents, who else were there at home?”
I had two sisters, Kamla didi and Radha didi who were already married, don’t remember where they stayed!”
“Robin beta, the credit goes to you for bringing up this conversation! Vishwas, promise, you’ll meet your family again! Remember the name of your village or district?”
“Kashipur it is, somewhere near Meerut!”
“And of course you know your parents’ names, the search starts NOW! Soon there’ll be a family reunion when the parents meet their son back from school after four decades!”
###
With the doctor’s network of contacts, within a few days, Vishwas’ parents, sisters and their families were tracked. As decided, on the Friday evening they drove to Kashipur.
A few people were there in front of the house. Vishwas and Urmila alighted and just stood there! The driver took down the baskets of things like fruits and gifts that they’d brought along.
Dr Mukherjee, Minakshi madam and Robin, too alighted, greeted the family and got back into the car with the words, ‘Vishwas, we’ve some errands to do, will be back later to take you both back home to Delhi!’
As they drove out, the villagers who’d assembled at the gate slowly walked in to meet their ‘lost school boy’!
‘How fortunate we’re to be a tiny link in this unique family reunion! It asks for a celebration, Robin let’s go to your favourite ice cream parlour!’
(Savitri Narayanan is a retired educationist at present in Goa. A mother and grandmother, loves reading, writing and travelling.)
