Little Girl And The Porter

This is a Story based on real experience. In the year 1978, bhumi was traveling to her grandparent's home along with her parents and siblings. This was a trip that was much awaited by all of them traveling. The journey by train would be so exciting for the kids obviously. All packing is done, with a special pack of homemade delicious snacks and assortments, what else. anyone would ask for. Ok, all set, and the entire family boards the train at 8.30 pm night. After the train departs from the Station each one settles down in their respective seats. After some time they all finish their packed dinner, clean up everything, and prepare to sleep. Bhumi and her brothers are given the middle berth and the lower berth respectively. They spread the bedsheets, place the pillows, dim the lights, and doze off to sleep. Bhumi woke up in the middle of the night for she was feeling thirsty. The train had halted in the Station. Bhumi was not yet fully awake but somehow she walks up to the compartment door and alights the train to drink water. She had a habit of sleepwalking by the way. All others asleep and no one noticed her exit. After a minute the train starts it's departure again. Before Bhumi becomes aware the train has already left the Station. She tries to board the moving train but obviously in vain. She becomes jittery and starts crying. Imagine a little helpless girl all alone on the platform with no one around. So scary. She looks around and at some distance she finds a middle-aged man wearing a red coat, you guessed it right he was a railway porter taking a nap before another train comes on.                     

The little girl gathers some courage and strength, walks upto the porter, and narrates the incident to him. The sleepy porter realizes what had happened, consoles the girl, and starts walking towards the door of the Railway station all the while consoling her with good words. He takes her to the railway canteen feeds her and asks her to wait there until he comes back. The nervous girl sits there for quite a while wondering where porter uncle might have gone. She is worried about what is going to happen, where her parents would be able to find her etc. She dozes off to sleep only to be woken up by a soft touch. She knew whose touch it was, it was her mother. Startled from sleep she gets up, hugs her mother, and cries her heart out. Her parents console her. She calms down gradually. After some time while narrating the whole incident she was wondering how her parents were able to locate her. She sees the porter talking to her father a little distance away. She asks her mother how they had come to that place to pick her up. Her mother starts narrating what really. The porter after leaving the little girl at the canteen runs up to the Station Master informs him about the episode and requests him to pass the information to that particular railway station from where the little girl had missed the train, who in turn would pass the information to her parents and so on. That is how her parents had come to her. The entire family thanked the porter heartily and leave the Station. Before leaving the girl goes running to the porter, shakes his hand, and wishes him goodbye, porter uncle.    For many years she kept writing letters to the porter directing the letter to that particular railway station. She doesn't really know whether the letter was read by the porter or not but she was happy to do so. The reason imagining a young girl who misses the train and rejoins her parents without any harm.If it did not happen this way if the porter had not bothered to take the pain to help her rejoin her parents if she fell prey to antisocial elements if anything could have happened right,?So she is definitely indebted to a simple person who may not be rich moneywise but had a rich heart.