Staying away from home to study or a job is a little difficult in its initial stage. One has to face a lot of hardships and challenges in every instant of life. Parents are not always there to look after you although in Indian culture parents support their children till they are married and always treat them in the same manner even when they become parents themselves. There remains always a soft corner for the girl child in the heart of every parent. They are always possessive for security reasons. 

My parents never discriminated against me and my brother rather than gave me a more challenging life and I always welcomed it with open hands. It is a small incident that happened to me at my internship at Doordarshan Jalandhar. It was a biting month of summer mid of June and holidays in university but we were asked to choose a suitable internship module from the desired TV channel/Radio or newspaper and make the best use of free time. I chose Doordarshan Jalandhar for my training. I used to reach home often late in the evening and parents were always worried. They said it's better to find accommodation in Jalandhar itself rather than boarding a bus daily so early in the morning and then getting late in the evening. After a week I found a suitable place and adjusted myself somehow in the PG. It was almost two weeks away from home and my mom and little bro were missing me badly and calling to come at the weekend. Just two days before the weekend my phone stopped functioning. 

I informed my mother about it, she said not to worry as there was a spare cell at home. I still bought a new charger and checked the whole power inputs in the PG but it was not taking up the charging. I minimized the usage of the internet to save the battery till I got home. It was raining day and I informed my PG aunty not to prepare my meal as I would leave home after attending the live programme. I got free by 3 o'clock in the afternoon and took the bus home feeling happy and excited almost after two weeks I will be seeing my family. The bus started exactly by 4 pm. 

I always choose a window seat while travelling. I missed the lunch to arrive on time and was carrying some snacks and novels to pass my time on the bus. It was almost an hour and I was enjoying the weather and novel when the bus suddenly stopped at Phagwara. 

I felt a little thirsty and bought a water bottle and while peeping outside I found some accident had turned out in a huge jam. After waiting for forty minutes struggling with the agitated crowd the driver somehow managed to get rid of the jam. I was feeling worried as it was getting dark and I had covered only half the distance and had to catch another bus for home. I reached the second bus stop at 8 pm and to my extreme terror I found that I had missed the last bus. 

I rang Mom and told her that she got upset because my father was out of town and there was not even a single passenger. My face went pale as my phone was going to switch off soon and no vehicle, no acquaintance at the stop. Middle of the night, the mid-half path home. What to do? Where to go? So many problems all of a sudden.

I took a deep breath and searched for a taxi but no scope of any source was freaking out my mind. I had only a few options in hand either go back to Jalandhar or to a friend who was also on training in Chandigarh. There was a bus service to Chandigarh and I rang her but she was helpless as the pg owner will not allow any staying of guests. There was not even a bus coming back to Jalandhar it was almost nine. Will I have to spend the whole night at the bus stop and it's also not safe as well. I was so upset and felt very bad and prayed to god to help me. 

A man was listening to my conversation he offered me a lift. I could not trust him so easily as anything may happen. He said he was a marketing agent and going to Ludhiana. He can drop me off at the bus stop from where I can get bus service to Jalandhar. I had no other option rather to take the lift and I got comfortable when he gave the lift to two passengers more but all were men. I was at big risk. Meanwhile, I told Mom that I was going back and do not worry I would manage. Just after receiving the phone call my best friend as usual rang me and asked if I had reached home or not.

I was almost into tears and told him the current situation. He said managed to the bus stop and also talked to the man. The stranger told his whole biodata and ensured not to worry after understanding the whole situation. I gained my confidence and started talking to the man about his family, and work and reached the place where my friend was waiting for me. We both thanked him and offered dinner and some money but he refused to take anything and said it was my responsibility for the sister. I thanked him once again from the bottom of my heart and my friend gave him his card to contact any help needed in future. As the fingers of a hand are not all the same, all people are not to be judged in the same category. 

I learnt a big lesson that night... a lot of bad things happened but everything ended up well.

Humanity still lies in tender hearts and there are still good people in the society.

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