SHORT STORY

Our family planned to go on a trip to North India. As a part of the trip, we went to Mumbai. I was stunned seeing the crowd there. We booked a hotel room and planned to stay there for two days. I love photography. So, I took my camera and bag and informed my parents and booked a cab to start exploring the places around. I went to a waterfall and started taking beautiful pictures.

After that, I looked around for my cab driver but he wasn’t there. I was worried and angry at the same time. I tried calling him with my phone but alas, the battery was dead. I immediately came out and found heavy traffic in front of me. I don’t know Hindi properly but my English helped. I asked people around for a mobile to call my father in the traffic. When I called my father, he couldn’t understand what I was saying, due to the noise around me. I didn’t know what to do at that time. I started asking for help but to no avail. I finally lost my hopes and sat on a bench.

The traffic slowly started moving. A rickshaw man spotted me and asked whether I wanted help. I related everything to him and told him the hotel’s name. He promptly took me there. After reaching the hotel, I was relieved to see my family again. I explained everything to my father and called the driver. Apparently, that bumbling driver was searching for me in that heavy traffic.

by

Ram Harshith Kandula

Class VIII

Written in April 2024