The day I felt the importance of a shelter

It was a time in my life, when I knew absolutely nothing about my near future. I was just a young boy walking down various streets and knocking up various doors just to seek the light that would shade away the darkness in my life. I had just completed my PUC and had to drop one year from studies in order to work as my elder brother was still pursuing his graduation. I was standing on the verge of a year that would well turn out to be the worst year of my life.

This was a time when I used to travel 45 kms from my home town to Chandigarh almost every day to get an opportunity to earn. Tumbling down various streets of Chandigarh, I was searching for a job to meet my family’s domestic expenses. And then finally one day, I got a job in a U.S. call center in Panchkula (a city right next to Chandigarh). It was a night shift job and I was asked to come for the training for the initial week.

I was glad to have found an opportunity that would solve my and my family’s problems to some extent. But I never knew that I was about to encounter various truths of life during this year. One such day arrived; I travelled for two hours in the bus right to my new office for another day of training. It was dusk when I reached my office. Eagerly waiting for the training to start, thousands of thoughts went through my mind- whether I will be able to do it or not.

Suddenly my Training Manager comes up and tells me that the training for the day has been cancelled as most of the trainees have not turned up for the day. I was initially relieved but soon worried as I knew I might not get a bus back to my town, it was already 8:30 p.m. Looking at the clock, I said to myself either I sleep off in the office or sleep at Chandigarh Bus Stand. I got tensed for a moment, and then suddenly one of the new trainees asked me to stay over at his place. I felt awkward but then agreed.

As we both made our way to the bus stop next to our office, I thought of going to the bus stand and try getting back home. The other guy agreed and I caught a bus and reached the bus stand. It was half-covered with darkness with people waiting for their late night buses and platform vendors making their way back to their homes.

I came down to the platform from where I could catch a bus to my town, but only got my hopes slammed after hearing that the latest bus was at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. Deep in my thoughts, I knew that I had to survive the whole night at the same platform. I took the notebook which I had in my hand and placed it below my head to let myself doze off.

I tried very hard to sleep but the noises around me kept on digging my head. I could easily hear people talking while boarding their buses and conductors whistling and howling as they prepared to make their move. As the night grew older, it started becoming chilly. I had to nothing to cover myself with. Same was the case with the dogs sleeping at a distance from me and people sleeping as they had to board their buses early morning. This was the time I came to know the importance of my home and shelter. I felt very lucky that every day I went back home, I used to get food from my mom and sleep under a proper shelter. Every night I felt secured and relaxed. But this night was not the same.

I was literally shivering due to the cold winds blowing around me. I felt disgusted but in a way also lucky that it was just a single night for me to go through. I realised the reality of the famous saying that when you go through some pain, then only you come across the pain felt by others. I somehow managed to spend the night gazing at the lights in the bus stand and taking small naps out of sheer fatigue. Then, finally I got the first bus in the morning and thanked my fate for being a bit supportive. I kept on fighting the various thoughts that came to my mind while making my way back to my town. As soon as I reached our home, I shared the experience with mom and slept off to get ready for another day.