“How was your day today, Navyaa and Nihaal?” I asked as they got down from the bus.

“Fantastic! And now, we are hungry!” said Navyaa.

“Let’s go!” said Nihaal, and he sped away.

Just as we entered our home, my phone rang. Almost at the same moment, Navyaa cried out,

“Maaaaa! I forgot my other bag of books on the bus!”

“What bag? Wait, I’m getting a call,” I said, dismissing her.

“Hello, ma’am! Mayuri here. Navyaa has forgotten her bag of books on the bus. From tomorrow, it’s a long weekend, and from Monday, the children have their exams,” said their bus attendant.

“Yes, right. How can I collect the books?” I asked.

“Ma’am, after dropping off all the children, driver bhaiyya will come back to your society to drop off the bag. Please come downstairs when he calls,” she told me.

After almost 45 minutes, the bus driver called to say that he would be reaching here in five minutes. Navyaa and I rushed downstairs.

He arrived.

“Thank you, bhaiyya, for coming all the way to give me this bag!” I thanked him.

“Madam, if it were just a water bottle or tiffin box, I may not have come back. But these were books, and they have exams from Monday. I had to come back,” he said 

“Thank you”, I expressed my gratitude

“Madam, I could not go to school. Not that the driver's job is bad, but I could have done better in life with education. Now my children are also studying. I understand the value of books and education.” he waved us goodbye with a smile.

They could have simply gone back to the school, parked the bus, handed over the bag at the office, and considered their job done. However, the attendant and the driver chose to go out of their way to give us the books so that my child could prepare well for her exams.

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Illustration Credit: Shivani Akant

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