The Return - Chapter 2: Airport Pickup

"Kajra Re Kajra Re Tere Kaare Kaare Naina, Kajra Re Kajra Re Tere Kaare Kaare Naina"

No matter how many times I heard the ringtone, it still brought a smile on my face.

"Hello"
"Hello Hari? This is Dr. Ruparel"
I was always scared of doctors since the injection Dr. Yadav gave me as a seven year old. But Shalini Madam was different from others. She had a clinic in our colony and provided free checkups to paupers like me.

I was on my feet in a moments notice and said, "Haan Shalini Madam. Boliye"

"You need to go to Mumbai."

"Mumbai?", a sweat broke on my brow. I listened to the rest of instructions nodding my head all along.

"Hello? Hari? Are you listening? So you need to leave for Mumbai tomorrow afternoon. You can pick up the car from my clinic in the morning. I will let you know the rest of the details tomorrow."

"Jee Shalini Madam. Don't worry. I will do it"

A year ago, I was one of thousands who boarded the train to Mumbai. I had made a promise to Maa that Hari Prasad Shukla will one day clear all of Baba's debts and plow his own fields. Two days in Mumbai and I was beaten up by a mob. I don't know what I did to provoke them. They asked me my name and where I was from. Then they just threw everything I owned on the ground and beat me up.

"Muluk Waapis jaaneka? Samjha? Yeh Maharashtra hai. Tum Apne pradesh mein kam karneka. Idhar dikha to fir yaad rakhna!" (Leave right now. This ia Maharashtra. Go work in your own State. If you ever come back, you will face dire consequences)

I was running away from them when I bumped into Malvankar Sahiib. The vegetables in his hand dropped on the road.
"Sorry saab. I didn't mean to do that", I started picking the tomatoes from the road. Half of them had rolled into the gutter. I couldn't look him in the eye and tears rolled down my cheek.
"Arey arey. Don't worry. What happened? Are you okay?", he said with a smile as he brushed the dirt from his pajama. He was wearing a white kurta and pajama. His eyes were hid behind thick glasses but his calm gaze soothed the turbulence of the last week.
"Saab my name is Hari Prasad Shukla. Those MNS goondas beat me up for no reason. I don't know what to do. Where to go. I have no one in Mumbai Saab. I haven't even sent any money to Maa since I came here"
"Come with me. Don't worry."

I don't know what I would have done if I had not met Malvankar Saahib. He took me with him to Pune and got me a job at Narayan Seth's chai stall. A year later, I could talk to Maa every weekend on my mobile.

I was a little concerned about going to Mumbai. But Malvankar Saahib's son was returning from America. I stood outside the terminal with the placard Shalini Madam gave me.

"That is me", a man in black suit said.

I saw a younger Malvankar saahib. I picked up his bags and led him to the car. I had never met anyone who had gone to America. Once I had seen the movie with the ship sinking. Wonder what America was like. I did not know how to talk to him. He was such a big man.

He said something in English in a low tone. I mustered up the courage to say something. I practiced it in my head a thousand times.

"Saab my name is Hari. Malvankar saahib's house is next to my tea stall."