School excursions are fun and make for great memories. Not this, one for our member, Ms S. Roy, who had taken a group of 500 students from her school, in four buses, for an excursion to Jayrambati and Kamarpukur. “We took children to different places for excursions or picnics, leaving at an appointed hour and bringing them back to school at a scheduled time, to be picked up by their parents. It would be a lot of fun and learning as well.”
DThis time too, the entire day was a great experience but when they were heading back, the sky was overshadowed with darkness. The ominous rain-bearing clouds lived up to their threat along with gusty winds. They made for zero visibility, forcing the buses to stop by the wayside as the merciless rain battered them. Her only thought was about the safety of her children. There were no cellphones and there was no way that she could contact their parents.
Then came the added horror. There was a banging on the bus. Outside, there were some locals screaming for them to open the buses. “Let us in”, they screamed. “You are sitting comfortably inside the vehicle and we are getting wet!” They sat quietly inside but the hammering went on for half an hour. Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, she asked the driver of her bus to move, never mind the consequences. The other buses got the message and they literally fled the spot despite the lack of visibility. They made it back to the school at around 11 pm and found anxious parents waiting for them. The students went home, thanking the teachers but one parent did not show up. The night turned to the next day before the last parent came at 12.30. Now it was for her to worry about how to get home. The kindly security guard offered to reach her home. It was around 1 am!
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