Jayesh looked at his watch “Shit , I am late again ”
“I will be late for today’s journalism class as well ” He hurriedly started his Activa , dropped his bag in its leg space and raced . He tried dodging traffic and manipulating his way through the morning traffic .
“I hope there is no signal at University road ” Jayesh said to himself and continued his onslaught in the traffic. But he could see the red signal at the University road and had to unwillingly stop. Jayesh was average in height and build with dark brown hair and clean shaved with thick eyebrows and very curious eyes. He was wearing blue t-shirt and black chinos paired with brown loafers. Whenever he got time he used to observe people. That was his favorite pass time. So while the signal became green and he was passing through the traffic, something caught his eyes.
An old man in soiled white shirt that had now become brown , khaki trousers and slippers, large spectacle resting on his nose. He was holding a wooden stick in his left hand and was blowing a whistle. In his left arm there was a small badge that read “Traffic Police “. Apart from his badge nothing he wore resembled anything like a Traffic police . He was ferociously waving his stick to the incoming traffic and directing them. Jayesh was driving slow as he was busy observing him .. but the vehicles behind him were frantically honking and were going bonkers. Soon those harsh noises made him realize his mistake and he accelerated.
He reached college and went to the class but his entire attention was captivated by the old man at the signal. The journalist inside him starting pouring questions and curiosity in his mind.
Who is that old man ?
What is he doing ?
Why is he behaving like a traffic police when he clearly isn’t one ?
Why aren’t the real traffic police stopping him from doing what he is doing ?
Why is he doing this thankless job ?
As he was lost in his thoughts , his friend Akshay shook him and gave a puzzled look .
“Hello .. dude .. where are you lost ?”
Jayesh whispered “What are you doing after class ?”
Akshay shrugged signalling no plans.
“Lets put our journalism knowledge into use ” smiled Jayesh.
Akshay still had the puzzled look but being his friend he nodded in affirmation. After class Akshay rushed to his scooter with Akshay following him. They reached the signal and Jayesh pointed out at the old man and expressed his curiosity to Akshay which made him curious as well. They both first decided to approach the old guy. After the signal went green the old man was sitting down holding the stick with both of his hands looking down at the road.
“Whats your name , Uncle ? ” Jayesh asked in a soft tone . But it seemed it fell on deaf ears. He repeated the question but received no reply
“He might be deaf ” whispered Akshay . Jayesh agreed with him and they tried inquiring people in the nearby vicinity.
“He is a crack head ” said a shopkeeper in a careless tone. Another Shopkeeper said the old man comes everyday at 9 am and leaves at 7 pm without fail. He doesn’t talk to anyone except one Traffic police guy. When Jayesh asked him to guide to the traffic police guy , he pointed at a dark , healthy looking guy who was standing right below the bridge wearing a ray-ban sunglasses.
“Who are you kids ? Why do you want to know about him ? Go away … ” said the guy roughly and almost intimidating them.
Akshay smelled trouble and pinched jayesh signalling him to leave. So both decided to leave. But before leaving they decided to offer the old guy a cup of tea.
The old guy initially rejected but later accepted the tea and started sipping it while holding it right hand which was trembling.
Jayesh again asked “Whats your name , Uncle ?” but received nothing . Disappointed they both started walking towards their bike when they heard some one yelling. They looked back and saw the same Traffic police guy signalling them to come to him.
“I am sorry for the way i spoke to you . I saw you guys giving tea to Mahesh. Who are you guys and why do you want to know about him ? ”
“Sir we are Journalism student of Symbiosis College and we were curious to know what is Mr. Mahesh doing here and why. If you could helps us understand. May be we could be of assistance”
“Ok … meet me in the evening. My duty ends at 7 pm. I will tell you whatever you want to know. My name is Sadashiv”
Elated Jayesh agreed in affirmation with a smile and relief that their curiosity will be quenched today.
Evening 7 PMÂ
Sadashiv parked his bike and signaled Jayesh and Akshay to come to the small restaurant which was just in front of them. They sat on the wooden table and were greeted with water in steel glass with droplets surrounding it.
“4 cutting chai ” said Sadashiv showing his 4 fingers to the waiter.
“The home you see in front is where Mahesh stays. He was with Maharashtra Traffic Police and is my dear friend ” so he started told them the story.
The Story
Mahessh Khopke was a simple guy with a small family. He came from a very poor background and belonged to a village called Kasargaon. His dad was a farmer and they could hardly make ends meet. But Mahesh was a hard working guy. He was the first in his family to have studied till 10th Std. After which he appeared for Traffic Police position and got selected for Pune location. That was one of the happiest days of his life. His family too was very happy that their son got out of the vicious circle of farming and has a government job. Soon he got married and had a son. Life was going good for 25 years.
Soon his son Ashwin got educated and landed up a job in Infosys. Soon they also found a beautiful girl for Ashwin. They were planning to get him married in the month of August, 1 month after Mahesh’s retirement.
It was a day before his retirement when he took leave to go to his friends place to invite him for his sons marriage. He had already started dreaming about his family getting bigger and soon he will be becoming grandfather and will be spending a lot of time with his grand kids. Although he was grateful for his job which gave him a good life, his body had started showing signs of wear and tear as the traffic police job is 10-12 hours in the scorching heat , winter & rain. His legs had started aching in the night and although he was dusky in complexion the job had made him tanned to the point where even he forgot his true complexion and had accepted that he is very dark skinned person. So in a way he was happy that he would be relieved from his responsibility and he would enjoy his retirement and live in peace.
But when he was on his way to meet his friend , he got a call from one of his work colleague. “Please come soon, its an emergency ”
Mahesh immediately returned to Pune not knowing what to expect
“Might be something important at office” he tried convincing himself.
He called Sadashiv who had called him when he reached Pune Bus stand. He immediately came to pick him up .
“Whats the matter Sadashiv ? ” Asked Mahesh while sitting in the pillion seat of White Bajaj Pulsar to which Sadashiv just waved his hand signalling him to be patient.
Sadashiv’s face was dry and eyes wide open as if he had seen a ghost .
Meanwhile Mahesh realized that he was on the road that lead to his home.
He became even more impatient and demanded a reply from Sadashiv by poking his shirt. Sadashiv still motionless took him near his home.
“Mahesh, i don’t know how to tell you this… your son Ashwin and your wife met with an accident at University square”
“Oh OK…. So…..so…. which hospital ? ” asked Mahesh with his entire face sweating and his eyes eagerly awaiting answer from Sadashiv.
Sadashiv was silent and began to sob
“They are no more Mahesh, It was a fatal accident. You were on leave today and your replacement didn’t show up . So you know how the University Road traffic is … Rajesh was on his bike and was taking a turn towards S B Road when a Tempo hit him from the opposite side and … ”
Sadashiv couldn’t complete the sentence & started crying harder
Mahesh went into shock and instead of crying he started murmuring
“I should have done my duty today . I should have been there. Its all my fault. All my fault” Mahesh collapsed down and his eyes went blank,expressionless as if his soul had left him and only his body was still here.
For the next 3 days Mahesh completed the rituals without any emotion and without shedding a drop of tear. All he whispered was “I should have been on duty , i should always be on duty”.
After completion of the rituals Sadashiv rejoined his duty, still sad with the events that happened . He parked his bike and put on his police cap and went to stand at his position under the bridge when he was surprised at what he saw.
Mahesh was standing there in a white shirt that was untucked , black trouser with a traffic police badge on his arm , waving his stick to the in coming traffic and blowing his whistle .
Sadshiv rushed towards him and asked him if he is okay and the only response he received was ” I should be on duty , i should always be on duty”
Sadashiv tried to shake him up but Mahesh continued with his activities. Even the higher authorities once came there and tried talking to him but everyone received the same reply. The Authorities even dropped him to his home only to find him again at the same spot the next day.
So soon everyone gave up and allowed Mahesh to do whatever he wanted to do . They even contacted a psychologist who said to allow him do what he is doing as that’s how he is coping up with the shock . The Doctor said that maybe in future he might come out of the shock . So let him do what he is doing.
“So thats why you see Mahesh everyday at the signal and thats why we dont bother him . But everyday i pray that he comes out of the shock. I miss my friend ” concluded Sadashiv while taking the last sip of tea. When he looked up he saw jayesh and Akshay had not even touched the tea and it had gone cold . Tears had accumalated in jayesh eyes.
He stood up and started walking towards Mahesh home. Mahesh was sitting there with his stick and his whistle tied around his neck was moving like a pendulum due to wind. Jayesh ran and hugged Mahesh and started crying and whispered in his ears “You did your duty Uncle , its not your fault” Mahesh initially shocked by the action of Jayesh , somehow regained some life. He felt as if his own son was hugging him, and then suddenly Mahesh eyes started overflowing with tears and he started crying even harder than Jayesh . He hugged Jayesh and screamed “Ashwin … Geeta .. why did you leave me alone … why ..”
Sadashiv and Akshay both were watching them from a distance , both emotional and tearful.
