The
locality buzzed of echoes of an emergency ambulance van rushing through the
lanes at that time. It was 3AM in the morning and majority of the residents of
the locality were in their deep sleep. Inside the emergency ambulance, the old
lady with an oxygen pipe fitted to her nose, lay on a stretcher bed looking at
a stranger sitting beside her. A middle- aged female sat there holding her hands
and looked regularly towards the driver.
The female stranger looked back at the old lady and held her hands
tightly. The hold assured the old lady that she would reach her destination
within time.
Racheal
Braganza was an eighty- four years old widow who lived all by herself. Her only
son resided in Australia. Her husband, Victor Braganza had passed away some
seven years ago. Since then, she lived all by herself. Her son had made
arrangements for a house help who would do all the house work. But she would
leave by seven in the evening. From that time until morning eight, Racheal
lived all by herself, reminiscing the memories of her life.
Primarily a resident of the state of Goa, her
family had shifted to Bandra in Mumbai city after the Independence of Goa from
the Portuguese in 1961. Since then, she had resided in Bandra all her life.
After her marriage to Victor, they found a good descent home in the same
locality and made Bandra their permanent home.
However,
the most important aspect of her life was not her marriage or her home or the
town, it was the school where she got appointed as a teacher, St Sebastian’s
high school.
St Sebastian’s
high school was one of the oldest schools in the town which was founded by a
British couple during the late 1890’s. Over the years she went on to become one
of the most favourite teachers among the school students. She rose in the ranks
over the years. From Junior teacher to senior teacher to head teacher and
finally becoming to the head mistress of the school. It was not surprising to
the students and their families that Racheal Braganza went on to serve as the
longest running Head mistress of the school until she finally retired at the
age of 72. But she kept in touch with the school. On every event and
celebratory occasion, she was invited to be a guest and introduced to the new
batch of students.
The
emergency ambulance abruptly halted in font of the hospital gates. Racheal was
taken out on the stretcher and hurriedly taken inside. She could hardly grasp
what was happening all around her. And suddenly everything went dark in front
of her.
Next time
when she opened her eyes, she could see an emergency room full of nurses and a
doctor with a mask on his face. The Doctor looked straight at her and smiled.
He bowed down and then got back to his work. Racheal looked all around. There
were some medical machines that were connected to her. She couldn’t understand
the functions of those machines. She realized that perhaps it was because of
those machines that she was feeling better. The Doctor came back and smiled
again. “You are much better today, Madam. You shall soon be discharged. It was
truly a challenging three days for us.”
Rachael
didn’t understand anything the doctor said. Everything was almost like a
bouncer to her. She tried to close her eyes and rest. Finally, two days later, she
was informed that she would be discharged. After all the formalities, she was
finally ready to exit the emergency room. It was only then that she found a
handwritten note on the desk table beside her bed.
It stated
“Have a happy journey teacher, Your doctor, Mr Ravi Sharma. And also, your
student. Batch of 1998. Good wishes for your health.” Racheal couldn’t
recollect anyone by that name. There had been so many students all through her
life that she couldn’t recollect names anymore. She kept the note in her bag
and walked out slowly. As she walked out, she found the same female who had
carried her to the hospital in the Ambulance. She held her hand and walked
slowly towards the lift. Once at the gate, a car came and halted in front of
both of them. The Female stranger made her sit inside the car and then got
inside herself. The male driver drove the car silently. Racheal looked out of
the window and was happy to go home. Half an hour later, when they got home,
Rachael got down and looked at male driver.
“Who are
you and why did you come to pick me up?” Racheal asked inquisitively.
The man
bowed down. Ashish Kapoor, Madam or shall I say, head mistress. Batch of 2004
under your able guidance.
“Really?”
Racheal asked confusingly. She looked at the Female lady standing beside and
asked her, “who are you?”
“Malena
Gomes, Madam or shall I say teacher. Batch of 2002.”
“Why can’t
I remember any of you?” Rachael asked.
“It’s okay,
madam. It has been long years now.”
“But how
did you know about me and that I was unwell?” Racheal asked.
Malena
looked at Ashish and then back at Madam. “We always know what you are doing and
how you are feeling. We are in touch with your son. Your son has put CCTV cameras inside the home to keep a watch
on you all time. It was he who called us urgently when he observed on CCTV that
you were feeling unwell all through the day. We rushed to your house.”
“My son is
in Australia. How can he see what’s happening inside the house?”
“Well,
that’s a long story, Mam. We shall make you understand on a cup of coffee
tomorrow morning.”
“But we do
have a surprise for you inside the house,” Malena informed.
“Surprise.
Really?” Racheal looked at her house and was excited to reach the door like a
small child.
As she
opened the doors, there stood an entire entourage of middle- aged people.
Racheal almost thought she entered the wrong house, but when she checked the
door, she realized that it was her own house. She looked at the people gathered
and yelled, “What are you people doing inside my home and who are you all?”
A lanky
middle- aged male walked towards Racheal, “Avinash Roy, madam. Batch of 2002.”
A Tall well
built magnetic personality walked towards the gate, “Vikram Rai Chand madam.
Batch of 2000”.
All fifteen
people introduced themselves who belonged to some or other batch from the St
Sebastian’s High school.
Over the
next few days, more students visited her and checked on her health.
Though
Racheal Braganza could hardly remember any of them but she was happy and
excited to know that the students never gave up on their teacher and the school
head mistress.
A week
later, one morning, a well- suited person stood in front of the house door. The
door bell rang. It took some time for Racheal to reach the door. As she opened
the door, she looked at the person standing outside the house. She sensed that
perhaps he was a famous personality whom she had seen in newspapers and
television. Finally, after recollecting, she said rather loudly,” you are that
business tycoon, Viren Hirwani.”
“What do
you want here?” she asked rather confusingly.
“Happy
Teachers day, Madam, or shall I say, Headmistress. This is Viren Hirwani from
the Batch of 1999 reporting, Madam.”
