At The Signal

We were tiny; very tiny. Our bags were bigger and heavier than us. We were sent to school in an auto rickshaw. Almost every evening, once we were back, mommy would have to bear the storm; the storm of complaints. The rickshaw driver was a gauche fellow. Apart from this, "She stamped my foot, mommy. He pinched me, mommy. She did not let me sit on her lap, mommy." These were the most common beefs after getting off the rickshaw. How much we complained!!

It was one of those days when breakfast was delayed by a few minutes. We reached the gate just a few seconds late. But, the flagrant driver wouldn't wait. He saw us walking towards the gate; but wouldn't wait. Merciless was the man!! Now, it was daddy's job to drop us. The scooter was wistful. It failed to obey daddy's command. Daddy looked at his slender Kinetic Spark which was the final and the only ray of hope at that moment. My brother in front, and my sister and I behind daddy. Four of us went in that sleek and scrawny two-wheeler. I wouldn't be wrong if I said seven of us went; four of us + three giant school bags. We also had water bottles hanging round our necks. We managed to reach the main traffic signal. It was the junction where four roads met. It is also the centre, I must say, of din and commotion of people and vehicles. There we were, right in the centre of the centre, and, our big bags fell off. It was a slopy road and we had to move in the upward direction. For daddy, riding was difficult. We were too small, and now, he had to pick the bags from the road himself. The policeman with the big belly was there. He would have fined us for overloading the poor vehicle. Any policeman would have done that. In fact, they wait for such a chance. But no, this jumbo policeman uncle didn't do that. Instead, he signaled all the vehicles to stop. The red, orange and green traffic lights blinked as usual. But, he stopped everyone. Vehicles moving from all four sides were stopped. Then, he signaled daddy to move. The whole place was stock-still while we were asked to proceed. At that moment, he was our guardian angel. God sent him to help us. Blessed be the merciful policeman!!