"Anumita goes home by school bus." Shravan refused to walk ahead.
"What! Are you sure? Is it this bus or some other vehicle?" I knew Anumita. A very well-behaved girl.
"Let's go and see." Shravan held my hand and tried to drag me along.
"Okay. But you shouldn't go anywhere near the building." I moved towards the collapsed building cautiously.
As we approached the place, I saw that the Social Studies teacher was arguing with one of the policemen. They must have refused to allow her. "Try to understand, madam. No civilian is allowed to go beyond this line until the rescue operation is complete."
"But I can clearly see the school bus. The children standing next to it are my students. I will just check whether they are fine." She pleaded with him.
"Siddhanth sir. Hello. It's me." I greeted him.
"Hello sir." He acknowledged my greeting. Most police officers in the town knew me.
"Sir, please allow us near the children. We will just call their parents and inform them what happened. This lady is their teacher. She knows their parents personally. We just want to assure them that their children are fine. It will be late until additional police force arrives." I took advantage of my acquaintance with him and tried to convince him.
"Alright. I'll allow you." Great! It finally occurred to him that we were trying to help him.
We rushed towards the school bus. The driver was slightly injured. He stood up when the teacher approached him. "I immediately turned left to avoid being crushed, madam. The children are safe."
There were a group of children standing next to him. They looked pale. The teacher took them to a corner and started calling their parents, by checking their numbers in their school diaries.
A few others were trapped inside the bus. There was only one officer, trying to get them out through emergency window. They were crying.
I couldn't take it any longer. I tried to break the already shattered glass windows. After a few attempts, I succeeded.
"Children! Come here. Climb out of the window. I'll catch you." I called them towards me.
Soon, the police personnel and I, rescued all the children and took them to the teacher. Anumita rushed towards Shravan. "Don't worry. We will play tomorrow." He assured her.
"Shravu! Think before you speak. She is injured and all you are worried about is playing?" I scolded him.
"No Shravu. If we reach the park by 4.30, we can play till 6.30. And then I will go home by 7." Anumita announced her modified schedule. I didn't know whether I should laugh or facepalm.
The teacher took another fifteen minutes to call all the parents. "Thank you, sir. I gave them the exact location. They will come and collect their-- wait! What happened to your hand?"
"It's nothing. I got injured while trying to get them out of the window." I tried to hide the injury.
She held my hand and examined the wound. "It looks serious. You lost a lot of blood. Let's go to the hospital."
"No. I don't need to--"
"Yes. You do." She pressed the end of her saree tightly to my wound, to stop the flow of blood. "Careful. There is a hospital nearby. Let's walk slowly." She held the umbrella with the other hand, above my head.
I didn't protest any longer. She searched for an auto rickshaw. For some mysterious reason, I wished she shouldn't find an empty one.
She sighed after a few minutes. "Looks like we have to walk."
YOU ARE READING
The Umbrella Partner
Random"I hate rains. I wish someone invented rain repellent creams." He complained. She chuckled. "Rains bring some surprising benefits which, even people like you would appreciate." "Like what?" She put her umbrella above his head and shifted closer. "Ra...
