IN THE maddening crowd, we come across several inci-dents, which directly or indirectly touch our lives. This is one of the funniest episodes that I have come across till date.
It was a fine winter vacation out in Kolkata. I remem¬ber being in the fifth standard. The holidays were pass¬ing out quite cheerfully amongst the relatives, with lots of fun and frolic. Then that eventful morning arrived. Accompanied by my aunt and elder sister we boarded a crowded bus. Our destination was a pathological labora¬tory at Dumdum.
It so happened that my six months old cousin had fallen sick. On the advice of the doctor, my aunt was carrying stool and urine samples of my cousin for cul¬ture.
I had heard elders speaking about pickpockets inside the crowded buses of Kolkata. This had infused a bit of nervousness in me. We were standing, as all the seats were pre-occupied. My aunt was carrying a beautiful vanity bag that caught the attention of everyone. As far as I knew, the bag did not contain any valuables except a few rupees (meant for bus fares, in a small pouch) and the recommended ‘samples’, which my aunt had packed
carefully, to avoid any mishap on the way.
The bag turned so puffed and bulky that the contents inside would become anyone’s wild guess. The vanity bag carried by a beautiful well-dressed woman is likely to attract attention. The piercing eyes, in this case, were unaware about the contents inside.
The humid condition and foul smell of an overcrowd¬ed bus was an additional irritation, which we hardly come across in Shillong. We were anxiously waiting to get rid of the suffocating atmosphere.
Meanwhile, inside, my aunt could feel someone from behind trying some fishy act to snatch the bag away. This act, made her more cautious. She held the bag very tight¬ly, with all her might under her arm. Time elapsed and fi¬nally we reached our destination. I, for one, heaved a sigh of relief and we all headed towards the pathology laboratory. The attending pathologist asked for the sam¬ples. Gladly enough, my aunt, pulled the zip open and I noticed her face turned pale. Within seconds, she burst into laughter, pointing the side of the bag, neatly cut in a circular shape. The samples were missing, but to our utter surprise, the small pouch was intact, peeping through the hole. We burst out laughing too, thinking of the poor thief discovering his loot and cursing us.
Moral of the story: All that glitters is not gold. ■
Ananya Biswas, Class 9A, KV EAC