Anju's School Bus

"Anj, get ready, your school bus has arrived,"I called Anju while packing her lunch box. "Yes mom, I am coming."Anju replied while she came out of her room with her satchel on her back. I packed her water bottle, lunch box and went with her to bus. She was quite eager to jump into the bus. She said ta-ta from her favourite window seat. And the bus went off.

Anju is my nine year old daughter. I remember her first days in school. She felt reluctant to leave me. She wanted me to go to her school and sit beside her. She simply cried when I left her in the midst of crying, haggling and jumping children. She felt quite nasty there. She always longed for the moment when I bring her back home. She always stuck her eyes at the windows just to have one glance of my face. I felt sorry for her, but I had to do that just for her good. Afterwards when the school started the facility of bus for children,I felt this would make her more sociable. Here also the same story repeated. She felt quite afraid of the trip to school without me or Arnab, my husband. She needed our support. But teachers insisted on leaving children in their custody, otherwise they would never grow. We did the same. 

But nowadays she never feels worried while getting into the school bus. Rather she longs for the time when school bus arrives, whether in morning or afternoon. 

"Anju beta, you no more cry while getting in to the school bus, why beta ? "

"Mom, I like the trip. I feel it should never end. If it ends then I long for the next trip. And for this trip only I study hard so that I can go to school next morning without any worries. I like to see the moving trees, moving sun and flowing roads."