I packed my bag and water-bottle to
leave school for the day, after Jana Gana Mana. As I alighted the steps of my
first floor class room, I noticed him standing at the rear gate, waiting for me
to come out. I knew that he was there for me because the maid, who was to carry
the school bag, was away. How unfair this was! True, I cannot carry my heavy
schoolbag. But that shouldn’t mean that he carry it. How did Amma agree to this
arrangement, in first place? Now that he’s shown up here, should I make him
carry my bag? No way! The moment I reached the rear gate, I found his
outstretched arm eager to take hold of my heavy bag. It was so endearing that
anyone but I would have happily handed over the bag to him gleefully and made
the way back home. But I wasn’t going to give up, not as yet. ‘I cannot’, I
said, still wondering how Amma had agreed to put him to this much of strain. ‘No,
dear, give it to me’, he said, as he gently took away my bag from my shoulder. I looked at his face, which
showed the signs of ageing, but then his lean frame betrayed the strong arms
which were a part of it
