Out Of Order.
'Ma, where's my pencil?
I can't find it!' yelled Raju.
'It's there on the dining table where you left it last night.
Aren't you ready yet? The rickshaw walla will be here soon.
Hurry up, Raju beta.
There...he's honking already!'
shouted Mira in a single breath, as she finished dressing for work.
Raju scooted out, backpack, specs and all.
'Don't forget the house key.'
Raju rushed back for it and ran out again.
"I'll try to come back early today and help you with Math' cried out Mira, as Raju sped off.
She went in, to lock the back door and double check if the gas stove was switched off.
'Obsessive compulsive disorder' her husband, Ramesh, would have remarked.
He was away on a business tour, now.
Throwing her bag onto her shoulder, she locked the front door.Then she remembered that she had left her mobile phone for charging, by the bedside.
Shaking her head desperately , she unlocked the door, to get it.
Once outside, she began to lock the door again.
'Didi, don't lock the door, I'm here.'
Mira turned to bump into her maid.
This was the best thing to happen to her this morning.
'I thought you had taken the day off', she exclaimed, heaving a sigh of relief.
Showering instructions and glaring at her watch, she dashed out into the street, hastily.
She hoped to catch the local train at 8:30, to V .T. Central.
The peak hours in a Mumbai local train were a nightmare, even to a regular, like Mira.
One managed to get inside a compartment, being pushed inside along with the sea of passengers, all focused upon getting in, amidst digs with elbows, nudges, tugs and gasps.
Finding a seat was always a distant dream.
And the process repeated itself when one had to alight. Phew!
At the office, Mira was kept busy the whole day, as two of her colleagues were on leave.
Just as she mustered up the courage to ask her boss for permission to leave early, he told her to attend to an important mail.
And when she finally rose to leave, it was already past seven.
She felt guilty about not being there to help
Raju prepare for his Math exam, the next day.
She vowed to call him enroute.
Reaching the station, she ran up the foot overbridge, that was under repairs, almost every day. Once again she felt one with the sea of moving bodies.
She tripped as a toddler came in her way.He was being led by his mother who was struggling with her heavy luggage.
Just then, she felt her phone vibrate in her bag
and she picked it up .
Gosh! Five missed calls!
She called Raju back,as she pressed forward, only to hear him whining 'Why can't you pick the phone up Ma, I can't find my white pyjamas.'
'It's there on the clothes line, Raj...'
Suddenly, Mira felt the ground under her feet crumbling. And before she knew it, she was going downwards ...down... down.... And then a terrifying, painful thud...
She lay engulfed in dust and rubble. There were shouts and screams of terror all around.
She was lying on a heap, facing up, only to see a crowd of stupefied faces looking down at her from above, as they stood at the edge of the bridge that was now
partly demolished.
It seemed like a hazy dream.
People crowded around trying to pull bodies out of the debris.
She saw a toppled banana cart with bananas strewn around. In her haste she had almost collided with the vendor before running up the stairs.
Some one pulled her up and asked if she were okay.
She was...except for the shooting pain in her wrist and a dizzy head.
Her handbag and phone had jerked out of her hand, as the bridge crashed.
Somebody lifted her on to a stretcher and as it moved forward she lifted her throbbing head to witness the grim spectacle-
A body was being covered by a white sheet. The injured were being shifted on to stretchers .
The young mother with minor injuries,now devoid of her luggage, was frantically searching for her toddler amongst the dusty remains.
Mira had had enough.
For a moment,she thought of Raju's Math exam.
Where was Ramesh?He should be here at her side now...Her thoughts were slowly becoming blurry as she slowly drifted into oblivion.
'Ma, where's my pencil?
I can't find it!' yelled Raju.
'It's there on the dining table where you left it last night.
Aren't you ready yet? The rickshaw walla will be here soon.
Hurry up, Raju beta.
There...he's honking already!'
shouted Mira in a single breath, as she finished dressing for work.
Raju scooted out, backpack, specs and all.
'Don't forget the house key.'
Raju rushed back for it and ran out again.
"I'll try to come back early today and help you with Math' cried out Mira, as Raju sped off.
She went in, to lock the back door and double check if the gas stove was switched off.
'Obsessive compulsive disorder' her husband, Ramesh, would have remarked.
He was away on a business tour, now.
Throwing her bag onto her shoulder, she locked the front door.Then she remembered that she had left her mobile phone for charging, by the bedside.
Shaking her head desperately , she unlocked the door, to get it.
Once outside, she began to lock the door again.
'Didi, don't lock the door, I'm here.'
Mira turned to bump into her maid.
This was the best thing to happen to her this morning.
'I thought you had taken the day off', she exclaimed, heaving a sigh of relief.
Showering instructions and glaring at her watch, she dashed out into the street, hastily.
She hoped to catch the local train at 8:30, to V .T. Central.
The peak hours in a Mumbai local train were a nightmare, even to a regular, like Mira.
One managed to get inside a compartment, being pushed inside along with the sea of passengers, all focused upon getting in, amidst digs with elbows, nudges, tugs and gasps.
Finding a seat was always a distant dream.
And the process repeated itself when one had to alight. Phew!
At the office, Mira was kept busy the whole day, as two of her colleagues were on leave.
Just as she mustered up the courage to ask her boss for permission to leave early, he told her to attend to an important mail.
And when she finally rose to leave, it was already past seven.
She felt guilty about not being there to help
Raju prepare for his Math exam, the next day.
She vowed to call him enroute.
Reaching the station, she ran up the foot overbridge, that was under repairs, almost every day. Once again she felt one with the sea of moving bodies.
She tripped as a toddler came in her way.He was being led by his mother who was struggling with her heavy luggage.
Just then, she felt her phone vibrate in her bag
and she picked it up .
Gosh! Five missed calls!
She called Raju back,as she pressed forward, only to hear him whining 'Why can't you pick the phone up Ma, I can't find my white pyjamas.'
'It's there on the clothes line, Raj...'
Suddenly, Mira felt the ground under her feet crumbling. And before she knew it, she was going downwards ...down... down.... And then a terrifying, painful thud...
She lay engulfed in dust and rubble. There were shouts and screams of terror all around.
She was lying on a heap, facing up, only to see a crowd of stupefied faces looking down at her from above, as they stood at the edge of the bridge that was now
partly demolished.
It seemed like a hazy dream.
People crowded around trying to pull bodies out of the debris.
She saw a toppled banana cart with bananas strewn around. In her haste she had almost collided with the vendor before running up the stairs.
Some one pulled her up and asked if she were okay.
She was...except for the shooting pain in her wrist and a dizzy head.
Her handbag and phone had jerked out of her hand, as the bridge crashed.
Somebody lifted her on to a stretcher and as it moved forward she lifted her throbbing head to witness the grim spectacle-
A body was being covered by a white sheet. The injured were being shifted on to stretchers .
The young mother with minor injuries,now devoid of her luggage, was frantically searching for her toddler amongst the dusty remains.
Mira had had enough.
For a moment,she thought of Raju's Math exam.
Where was Ramesh?He should be here at her side now...Her thoughts were slowly becoming blurry as she slowly drifted into oblivion.
