“What? Are we going to go on our trip on this rickety bus? In the brochure they showed such beautiful Volvo buses”, I protested
I was on a South India trip with my parents after spending a week in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This was during an era when the Internet was still not used heavily to make prior online bookings, and I was in my second year of college. Once we reached Madurai, I accompanied my father in search of a travel agency to book a trip to Kodaikanal and other places. We zeroed in on one of them, and we were to leave in a few hours.
I was highly disappointed when we saw a minibus that would break down on our way and ruin our trip. We protested but these travel agency people have always been smart in making excuses followed by several false promises.
Finally, we boarded the cramped bus. It was already full but thankfully, we got 3 seats and settled in.
My intuition turned true when the bus broke down just as we were about to enter Kodaikanal. The only saving grace was that it happened at a spot from where we could entertain ourselves with a view of a waterfall. Just a view. After seeing the same scene for a long time, we eventually got bored. A voice came from behind me.
“So. Are you bored now?”, the voice suggested that he was from West Bengal. I turned to see a middle-aged man
“Yes. How long can we see this wallpaper scene? I knew this bus was going to break down”
He laughed at that.
“Don’t worry. We will complete our sightseeing once we reach there”, and we started talking.
Suddenly, my eyes met my mom’s eyes and she signaled me to get away from that man with a message – “You are not supposed to talk to strangers”
I excused myself and got back to my parents.
Once the bus was repaired and we boarded again, this man came and sat next to us and started a conversation. He was traveling alone, without his wife, and they didn’t have any children.
“Why didn’t you bring your wife along? How can you travel alone leaving her behind at home?”. I felt so bad for his wife and silently made a perception about this “oppressive” man who wants to have fun but won’t let his wife enjoy it.
He laughed but before he could answer, our bus stopped for lunch. I didn’t want him around us. We had our lunch and then headed to the lake. This is when he again came around us and explained.
“You see beta. After working for a few years in Kolkata, we shifted to a small village and started our school, since there was no school there. We felt bad that there were no good schools and children did not have any options. We now run a primary school and after a little reluctance, parents are sending their children to study there. In Bengal, we get some cyclones and many days of the year we have to close the school to prepare for the cyclones and then to get back to normalcy after that and we don’t want to lose other days of the year. That’s why my wife and I travel out in turns. That too, we go out of our village to figure out how can we teach our kids better, any change in curriculum, new books, etc. On the way, we take out some time for leisure as well. This time, I have come. Next time, my wife will go”, he smiled
I felt a knot in my stomach. Of course, I had no way to confirm if he was telling the truth or making it up but if he was telling the truth, I was so wrong about him without even knowing him.
Three of us were strolling along the lake when I saw him coming on a bicycle. He said that we could take a round of the lake on this paid bicycle. If I want, I can take a round on his cycle. My father paid for my round and it was such an amazing experience. Then onwards, we talked a lot. He discussed my studies and what I wanted to do in the future and all. When we stopped by for our dinner, he mentioned that I resembled a lot with his niece and he wanted to take a photo of mine to show it to her. Somehow I couldn’t say no and posed in front of our bus. This was the time of traditional photo-film cameras. I again felt uncomfortable about giving away my photo to an almost stranger. But we couldn’t find a way to get him to delete that photograph. It was not the digital one.
Anyway, at the end of our trip, we parted ways and my father and the man exchanged addresses as well and thereafter we continued with the rest of our South India trip.
Many days later when we reached our home in Jaipur, one day, I got a letter addressed to my name. When I flipped the envelope, I saw an address from a place called Joypur, West Bengal. I was quite surprised. I opened the envelope and found two things in there.
A letter and my photograph.
Yes. The man whom we met at Kodaikanal had sent my photograph back after showing it to her niece. He wrote about how happy his wife was knowing about my education and plans and how ‘gladly’ I posed for a photograph for him. But he was aware that we were not comfortable and that’s why he was returning my photo since he is anyway not going to forget our family for the rest of his life. I remember faintly that he also mentioned how happy his school kids were to know that they could have a career in the field of computers as well after he told that about my course – BCA. Thereafter, I think we exchanged a few letters and I was so happy to know how the couple was engaged in educating and empowering the next generation of their village. After a few months, both of us got busy and lost touch with each other. I think that photo of mine is still there at my parents’ house.
Those were the days when we would travel, meet and talk to strangers, become friends, and bond over letters. Now, we keep it to ourselves. We don’t want to mingle with any stranger. Who knows what ‘they’ might be up to?
Those were the days…
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Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash
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