Return Journey of a Stranger

understatement.

Chapter 1

When the police jeep entered the Sawantwadi slum, the children playing in the narrow lanes and by-lanes dispersed immediately. Their elders had advised them to keep away from the police as much as possible.

The jeep halted at a junction of three narrow lanes, and two police constables alighted from the vehicle. Chandu was playing with his friends when the police jeep arrived in Sawantwadi, and, like the other children, he hurriedly went inside his house in the chawl. He peeped out from a crack in the window frame.

The police constables stood in front of the jeep and looked around to see who all were present. Then, they randomly asked the people standing nearby about a theft committed the previous night at a posh bungalow near Roxy theatre on Charni road. The constables had thick batons in their hands and waved it ostentatiously while talking to the people – a hint that they would use it if need be.

The people answered the policemen’s questions without fear but they were concerned. It was clear that no one amongst them had committed the theft, but they needed to convince the police about the same. They knew that the trace of a doubt or suspicion in the policemen’s minds could land them in trouble. The only consequence in such a case was a sustained enquiry that could lead to an interrogation at the police station – definitely not a pleasant exercise.

Due to their occasional interactions, the police knew many of the residents. They picked one of them – a man named Pakya. Where were you yesterday evening?

Sir, I was here only. You can ask anyone here.

The police asked in a mocking tone, "And what you were doing here? Playing cards by betting money?"

No sir. I do not play cards. I was only gossiping with neighbours and drinking tea.

What else can you people do other than gossiping and whiling away your time? remarked a police constable. Do you know anyone among your friends who could have done this?

Pakya replied in a slightly relieved tone, No sir. We are all innocent people living here. We do not commit thefts or cause trouble.

The policemen looked around for a while and got into the Jeep. They drove away, but looked around cautiously, as if they expected to find some clues in the surroundings. As soon as the jeep left the place, the situation returned to normal. The children came out; the tea stall reverberated with the customers’ animated conversations. The volume of the transistor in the barber’s shop was also raised a bit, in the fond hope that the songs played on the radio would entertain the passersby as well as the customers sitting inside the shop.

Chandu was afraid of the police. He had seen some Hindi movies on the TV in his neighbour’s house, in which there were scenes in which some policemen were beating up some criminals. Since then, he had had an image in his mind that the police not only disturbed the public but also beat up people who do not listen to them. This feeling was strengthened when he overheard gossip about someone with a criminal record in an adjacent locality. The man had suddenly gone missing, and the people there speculated that the police had caught him, and that, probably, he would never come back home.

That night, before going to sleep, Chandu asked his mother, Aai, why do the police becomes suspicious of us whenever any theft is committed in the nearby area?

Savitri, his mother, replied, Beta, it is because we are all poor people. We live in slums. Just because we do not have any money, they conveniently assume that we do not have morals and ethics as well. She wondered whether her reply was a bit too deep for Chandu to understand. Then again, his question was beyond the expected knowledge and understanding of a 12-year-old.

Chandu did not say anything for a while. Then he asked, Aai, is it true that people living in good localities and staying in big houses are all good?

Savitri was surprised by his question. Chandu, the society generally tends to respect those people who have more money with them. It is assumed that they do no wrong. Also, if they do something wrong, it automatically becomes correct. On the contrary, everything that we do is looked at with suspicion.

You did not answer my question, Aai…

Look Chandu, there are good people and bad people in every society. Among the rich people, there are good and bad; among poor people also, there are good and bad. There is no section of society that has only good people.

Chandu opened his mouth to say something, but Savitri interrupted, Now, you go to sleep. It is already very late. I need to get up early tomorrow morning.

One last question, Aai. Do the big people ever get caught doing wrong things?

"Yes Chandu, sometimes, they are also caught. However, they are not caught as frequently as the poor. Sometimes, the rich people use their money to convert a wrong into a right in the eyes of society and law."

Chandu had more questions, but he had already used up his last question for that night, so he remained silent after that.

After a few minutes of silence, Savitri asked Shantaram, her husband, who was lying on a dilapidated cot nearby, Aho, what shall we do about Kamali’s school? The admission process has started in the nearby government school.

Shantaram replied in a sleepy tone, Yes, that’s what we have been thinking for few weeks now. Let us admit her into school this year. This is the right age to go to school.

Savitri asked hesitantly, And what about Chandu? We did not put him in school, and now he is 12…

Shantaram said in an apologetic tone, That is what is bothering me, Savitri. What shall we say to Chandu tomorrow, if he asks us, as to why we did not put him in school?

Savitri had no answer. She knew that their financial condition had been much worse eight years ago; Shantaram had lost his job in the textile mill and they had survived on Savitri’s income, earned by working as a maid in nearby homes. The question of survival superseded all priorities in life, including the education of their son. Both Shantaram and Savitri were aware that Chandu was growing old and needed to be admitted to a school. However, their adverse financial circumstances did not allow them to do so. Every year, he grew older, and soon passed the standard age for school admissions.

It was only over the last three years that they had experienced some financial stability, thanks to Shantaram’s new job in another textile mill. With Shantaram’s and Savitri’s income put together, they were assured of two meals a day, as well as new clothes for the children for Dussera. Despite this positive development, however, Chandu could not start school as he would be a misfit in a kindergarten class, and no school would admit him in higher classes.

After a long pause, Savitri said, Let us ask Chandu tomorrow if he is interested in going to school. That way, we will have some cause for satisfaction if he says he is not interested in joining a school. What do you think?

She did not get an answer. After a few seconds, she heard Shantaram snoring. He had fallen asleep, tired after the day’s work in the mill. There was no point in waking him up to continue the discussion. She was not sure if he had heard her last sentence.

Savitri turned on her side. A tear fell on the pillow – a rare occurrence. She never expressed her emotions in front of others, even her husband and children. She was a woman with steel-like grit, who had faced several challenges in life. On such occasions, she remembered her father, who was firmly set against her marriage to Shantaram. He had warned her repeatedly that her life would not be good if she married Shantaram. He loved his daughter very much and was not happy to see her marrying someone due to the fleeting emotions of young age rather than mature thoughts. Savitri had seen Shantaram at a marriage function and they had fallen in love instantly. Savitri’s father was a well-to-do farmer in a village. He had brought up his daughter in a comfortable environment. Therefore, when she told him that she would marry only Shantaram, a mill worker in Mumbai, he was dejected and crestfallen. However, when no amount of persuasion seemed to work, he accepted the proposal and got them married in lavish style.

However, soon after her marriage, Savitri’s life changed drastically. She had led a highly comfortable and pampered life in her father’s house. After marriage, she had to do all the household work. Moreover, Shantaram was the eldest son in a family of five children. After his father passed away, the responsibility of educating his two brothers and two sisters was entirely upon him. He did full justice to his responsibility and got them educated well enough to enable them stand on their feet, and got his two sisters married to boys from reasonably good families. However, in all of this, he could not save much money. Therefore, he was left with no option but to relocate to the low-income area of Sawantwadi. Savitri supported him as a dutiful wife in all his endeavours and never complained about the hardships she faced. In fact, her respect for Shantaram increased over the years, because he always kept others’ interests above his own.

Whenever these thoughts crossed Savitri’s mind, she would get emotional. However, she did not show any signs of regret over her decision to marry Shantaram. She believed that every human being had his/her fate written out before they were born, and no one could change it. She had taken a conscious decision to marry Shantaram and she honoured that decision. She did her best in every situation and faced all challenges bravely.

That is why no one saw tears in her eyes…ever.

Chapter 2

Chandu was playing marbles with his friends. He was good at aiming a shot and was one of the best players among the children’s fraternity in Sawantwadi. Today was one of his good days, as he had won seven marbles since he had started playing half an hour back.

It was while trying to hit a blue marble at a distance that his striking orange marble slid and rolled into a nearby bush. He went after it and, while retrieving it, found a 10-rupee note lying there. He did not know how to read and write, but could identify the small denomination notes from their design and appearance. He knew the value of notes without even knowing how to count – he had learnt it from the experience of buying small items when Savitri sent him to the nearby grocery shop.

He picked up the 10-rupee note, but he had second thoughts as to whether he should take it. While he stood there, hesitating, his friends went over and looked at the 10-rupee note in his hand. They asked him where he had gotten it. When he told them that it had been lying there, they started advising him on all that he could buy with that money – ice cream, marbles, biscuits, toys…Chandu was excited by the fact that he could buy so many things with that money. He liked the sense of power that came with having money.

Suddenly, he realised that Savitri, who was passing by, overheard their conversation about money and had approached them. She looked at the 10-rupee note in Chandu’s hand and asked him, Who gave you this money?

Chandu replied, I found it here. Someone must have dropped it by mistake.

Savitri scolded him, Someone dropped the money by mistake, and you were planning to take it and spend it on fancy items?

Chandu replied innocently, Aai, we do not know whose money it is. Since we found it, what is wrong if we take it?

Savitri replied emphatically, No. Chandu, never take money that belongs to others. You do not own it.

Chandu was confused. But Aai, the person who lost it may not realise it immediately. What do we do in that case? Do we put it back there? Then someone else would take it.

Savitri said, Chandu, whether the person who lost it realises or not and whether someone else takes it or not, I do not want you to take it.

At that time, Babanya, their neighbour, walked past them, looking worried, searching for something on the ground. Immediately, they all realised that he was looking for the 10-rupee note.

Savitri asked him, What happened Babanya? You seem to be searching for something.

Babanya replied without looking at them, Yes, I was carrying a 10-rupee note. It seems to have fallen down somewhere here. I was going to buy tablets for my mother. She is suffering from fever…

Savitri said, These boys found the note, Babanya. Here is your money. And she asked Chandu to hand over the note to Babanya.

Babanya was thrilled to have found his money and left after thanking them. Savitri said, Look Chandu, you were planning to spend this money on your fancy items, but Babanya needed this to buy medicines for his mother. If you had taken this money, you would have deprived Babanya’s mother of her medicines to get well. It would have been a sin.

Chandu realised the importance of money and, more so, the right usage of money.

While they were walking back home, something pierced Chandu’s left foot, as he was not wearing shoes or sandals. He shouted out in pain. Savitri made him sit on a broken wooden bench kept outside a house, and carefully looked at his sole. She observed that a small thorn had entered his skin of the sole. She asked him to relax, and tried to push the thorn out to the surface of the skin. The tiny black mark of the thorn was visible from under the skin. After manoeuvering the thorn for almost five minutes, she guided it close to the opening on his skin, caught the edge of the thorn with her nails and slowly removed it. Chandu felt relieved when he saw the thorn come out. He started walking again, but carefully this time to avoid any ingress of dust in the opening in the skin.

He asked Savitri, Aai, why does it hurt when a thorn goes inside the body?

Savitri replied, Chandu, when any foreign body goes into our skin, it hurts us. You know how badly it hurts when a peck of the dust goes into our eyes. Similarly, our body is designed in such a way that whenever any foreign thing enters our body, the whole system gets disturbed.

That night, while sleeping, Chandu once again thought about the 10-rupee note and the momentary pleasure he had derived from having the power to buy something with it. He asked Savitri, Aai, what do the rich people do with all the money they have?

Savitri thought for a while and said, Chandu, some people earn money just because it can buy them comforts. It gives them a feeling that they are powerful and can do anything.

But, do they really use it, or just store it for using it on some other day?

This world has a variety of people living in it. There are very few people, who are able to spend only that amount of money that they can earn. There are many people whose needs exceed their capabilities. These people spend their entire lifetime trying to earn the amount of money that meets their needs. Then, some have money far in excess of their needs. They realise very late in their lives that money alone does not bring them any happiness. However, by the time this realisation dawns on them, they would have spent so much time and energy in earning that much money that they are no more capable of enjoying it. For example, take a person who is fond of eating good food, but eats only ordinary food in order to save money. Then, one day, he realises that he has earned enough money and wants to eat good food, but his old age does not permit him to eat good food, as his capacity to digest that good food is already diminished.

She paused when she realised that the talk was too philosophical for Chandu. Nevertheless, she used every opportunity to instill good values in him, as she knew that he was one of the unlucky few that would never go to school.

She realised that Chandu had fallen asleep. The innocence on his face gave her immense satisfaction. She wanted him to grow up to become someone big, but she also knew that it was futile to expect someone who never went to any school to attain a high position in life…

The next day, Savitri asked Chandu casually, Are you interested in going to school, Chandu?

Chandu was half-expecting the question. He had overheard her conversation with his father a few days ago; they had assumed that he was asleep. He had his answer ready.

He replied, No. I don’t want to go to school. Who will go and sit in a classroom for a long time every day? I like to play and be free to do anything that I like.

Savitri was pained by his answer. She would have liked to send him to school, but the right time had passed. Now it was time to send his younger sister Kamali to school and they were worried about Chandu’s feelings. However, now that Chandu has refused to go to school, they felt justified in sending Kamali to school, without any feeling of guilt.

The next day, Shantaram and Savitri took Kamali to the nearby Government School and completed the admission formalities. It was a proud moment for Shantaram and Savitri. Within a week, she got a new uniform, school bag, books and shoes. She looked very pretty when she dressed up for school. Savitri would tie up her oiled hair neatly with two ribbons, which gave the girl’s face a bright look.

Every day, Chandu waited for Kamali to come home from school. She narrated all the funny incidents that had happened in school to him. He enjoyed these moments, as Kamali was very excited when she told him the stories. Sometimes, Chandu felt that he was missing all these moments in his life, but he had realised that it was too late for him to join a school. And time is something that cannot be reversed.

There was another reason as to why Chandu waited for Kamali to return from school. That reason was Anjali, Kamali’s friend. They both walked back home together. Anjali was four years older to Kamali, and there was a tacit understanding that she would take care of Kamali while commuting to and from the school every day. Sometimes, Chandu and Anjali played in the evening. Chandu liked talking to her, as she was very expressive and always had appropriate expressions on her face. They always had very lively conversations. Anjali liked Chandu because he was very sincere and fair while playing. He never allowed anyone to play foul, and ensured that everyone got a chance