Sapno Ka Shaher

Achchha-Boora

"Tum Beetroot ka paratha khaoge? Mere paas hai..." Sameer asked a little boy sitting in front of him.

The kid just shook his head in no. Sameer persisted, "dekho, mujhe pata hai tumhe bhook lagi hai. Aur parathe bahot achchhe bane hai." He raised his brows to show appreciation for the food.

"Aapko pasand nahi isliye mujhe de rahe ho na?" The boy smartly countered.

Sameer pursed his lips and retreated a bit. Quirking his one brow, he asked, "Tumhe kaise pata?"

"Kyunki mai bhi aisehi karta hu..." The boy shrugged. "Aapki maa apko tiffin me beetroot deti hai?" He scrunched his nose.

Sameer grinned looking at the boy. Today, he had got the first seat in the bus on his way to the ad shoot, and a school kid, supposedly returning from his morning shift school, was sitting on the seat facing the crowd, right in front of him. The boy was of wheatish complex, his hair perfectly combed and him neatly dressed in a white shirt and blue half-pant school dress. Sameer had been observing the boy for a long time, and he saw him fiddling with the waterbag strap, drinking a sip of water from his waterbag after every five minutes, licking a chocolate wrapper and dipping his head in the school bag maybe to open his empty tiffin box. He knew the boy was hungry and checking if he could get something to eat in his bag.

Sameer bent towards the boy and whispered. "Yeh tiffin mujhe meri maa ne nahi, meri biwi ne diya hai... ab toh le sakte ho na..."

"Phir bhi nahi chahiye..." The boy answered nonchalantly. "Maa ne kaha hai kisi ajnabee insaan se kuchh nahi lena."

Sameer frowned but felt glad that the boy wasn't indulgent to strangers. He twisted his mouth and narrowed his eyes, "mai kya shakal se boora insaan dikhta hu tumhe?"

"Ho bhi sakte ho... kaun achchha hai, kaun boora... yeh shakal pe thodi likha hota hai..." The boy replied with utmost confidence.

Sameer laughed wholeheartedly. He was utterly surprised to see such a level of confidence in that kid. "Thik hai, mat khao. Mai jaa raha hu waise bhi, mera stop aa gaya." Sameer smiled and got up to leave.

"Bye Bhaiya." The boy passed a sweet smile.

"Bye." Sameer chuckled and descended as the bus stopped.

Sameer reached the shooting location 10 minutes before the given time of 12noon. He had started analyzing the Mumbai traffic at different hours and the estimated time taken to reach a destination by bus or local. The places like Goregaon, Bandra, Juhu, Dadar, Worli, in short what they call as 'South Bombay' would always be crowded. And as he would go to the north, he had seen that the areas like Malad, Kandivali, Borivali were the part of developmental phases, which he knew would be as crowded as South Bombay some 10 years later. The morning hours from 8 to 10 and evening hours from 4 to 7 would be the busiest ones due to the office-going crowd and students. He had never imagined how students starting from 5th grade could be so confident while travelling in buses and locals. Today, he had even put himself in place of that twelve year old boy sitting in front of him. He wondered how his life would have been, if not spent in that lavish boarding school in Nainital. Would he be so fearless while stepping into a bus full of strangers? How would he have reacted to the tussle while climbing into a bus in a sea of people? Could he stand for hours in the queue at the bus station to renew his monthly travel pass? He couldn't imagine himself going through such hassle daily just to reach the school. He himself, though being a 22yr old young adult now, still feared unknown people, unknown places, dark and lonely roads, and animals- mostly stray dogs. Being raised in a protective and financially sound environment, he wasn't explored to the battles of life in his early teenage. But experiencing it on an almost daily basis these days, he thanked his Nanu and his mother for giving him at least a secured childhood and wished for his present days to go with a little less struggle.