27...And Counting

“This is disgusting! I spent the whole week waiting for this Sunday… Everything I planned to do today went in vain because of this rain which is pouring cats and dogs”. “Don’t be upset Kanna we will use this time and spend some time indoors! Tell me did something interesting happen in school” said my mom “yes! Yes! I forgot to tell you actually mom, It was raining quite heavy and all the school buses were ready on their marks to leave as soon as the rain stops. My bus was last in the line and my driver was very frustrated and was listening to some Telangana folk music on his phone on full volume…..I felt that rain was in no mood to stop, so I decided to go into the bus and the other reason for me to get into the bus was I liked the song which was playing in my bus driver’s phone …. I was fully drenched in rain… I went and sat on the last seat and tried drying my hair with the kerchief I had…. There were only two people on the bus...me and my bus driver…. I was enjoying the music and suddenly my bus driver shouted “Hey!!! Here!! here... old man what are doing in the rain …. come, get onto the bus stay till the rain stops otherwise you are gonna get sick …. ah! yes, come on get in….” Then came an old man, he was completely drenched in the rain, his clothes were very dirty as he was picking up the garbage and putting it in the tri wheeled vehicle he was given. He had small pieces of grass stuck to his wet hands…. I was still sitting in the last seat and watching all this happen and I don’t why but I suddenly felt their conversion interesting and maybe I was bored of sitting all alone on the bus. I joined them … “since how many years are working here old man?” asked my bus driver “hmm… it’s been a long time in this school, maybe I've joined here 26... No not 26, 27 precisely. Ya, I have been working here for 27 years (laughs) how fast the time passed I didn’t realise that I was working here for 27 years until you’ve asked (laughs)”... I became speechless and kept wondering how can someone work in the same place for 27 years and I said “old man you are great”...he laughed out loud and his mouth was wide open and he had no teeth even if he had some he had lost most of his teeth... “how much do they pay you? Since you are working here for such a long time they must be paying you a good sum right?” asked my bus driver .“Yes they pay me good and I am happy” said the old man… “come on tell us how much do you get,” both I and my driver asked with curiosity… “Two hundred and fifty is what I get as a daily wage .” I just got blanked, I mean how can someone run his life with 250 each day? I could not stop asking him “why won’t you quit this school and work somewhere else where you will be paid a good amount and do you know the government has increased the daily wage amount to around four hundred or four hundred and fifty why don’t you give a try there? I mean you could earn two days of your wage in a single day?? What do you say driver anna?” and his answer was priceless .“This is the problem in the country brother… there is no value for the sweat of a hard-working man, nobody cares brother…. Nobody. But if you cheat somebody, if you take advantage of the system for your benefit, or if you backstab someone and get to a place where he should have been...you will surely be valued. The only way the country can be developed is by respecting the person who works hard, if not two out of ten hard-working people will choose the wrong way to earn respect and money and these two won’t stop there they will destroy the future of the other eight people” for a while I felt that I was listening to a very learned person but later realised that I was actually listening to a person who learnt life…. After listening to driver anna the old man said “you asked me why I did not leave this school even though they pay me very less…(laughs) this school has shown me a way to live when I had nothing I can’t let it go now may be the value for money has mas increased by both me and my school remain the same …” after his words I felt like "man these are what so-called values…." " What about your family old man?" "Family... (in a brittle voice) I have nobody... I lost my wife long ago and I used to take care of my son but now he's no more." "What happened to him?" I asked in surprise. "He was killed! (sobbing) he was killed for not giving our land to the village head...everybody knows that but nobody can help me fight for justice... the only reason is he has money and fame and I don't...". I was broken with surprise... how can someone kill a man just for a piece of land? I did not understand anything and I asked my bus driver" Is there something we can do?" "NO! that's the power of the money you cannot win over it unless you have it in your bank...most of us think money can save lives but that is not true money is very dangerous it can take away lives ... money can make you kill... It can make you kill your mom, dad or sometimes it can make you kill yourself!" then came a Stentorian voice  "hey you nasty old man! I told you to trim the grass why haven't you done it yet? get down from the bus and get to work quick! it should be done within an hour." It was the supervisor who shouted. I could see the pain in the eyes of that Oldman .... as he walked into the rain his tears got covered.I looked at my bus driver and said: "That was harsh!" "yes it was harsh but we can't do anything...ufff looks like the rain is about to stop... but remember this brother don't chase money...that will turn you into a monster please never do that." I smiled and got back to my seat and the bus started and now even after coming home, those words are haunting me, mom.""That's life Kanna you need to be happy with what you have! and remember you me and people like your driver can only talk about that old man's situation but none of us can do something about that... only the affected person can solve his problems ... looks like the weather is calm now will you go meet your friends now?" "No mom I'll stay home come let's have some food!"