Samarth was in seventh grade of school, he was usually quite content and happy, but not since the last few days. It was the time of summer vacation and one of his aunts, who lived in a state quite far away, was hospitalised. Samarth’s mother decided to visit her. Samarth’s parents decided that his sister would go with mother while Samarth would stay with father.
Samarth was now spending time studying and doing homework, while occasionally peeking out the glass window at the buses coming and going in the terminal. His father was a booking clerk there.
One day an interstate bus that covered a few key villages of another state came by at a halt at its allotted station and Rachit got down, with a lot of hope from the life he was going to start from here onwards and how he would be able to help his family back in the village.
Rachit gave the credit for the initiative to his childhood friend Charan. Charan had come to the city and apparently settled down with a good life. In the letters he sent to Rachit and the occasional phone calls, he would always ask Rachit to come to the city where he would help him out to find work and a place to stay.
Initially, Rachit was not interested as much, but as he realised how Charan’s life changed for good, Rachit decided to take up Charan’s offer. So, he wrote a letter to Charan and came here with his belongings.
Rachit headed for the nearest phone booth, and took out the piece of paper on which Rachit’s landline number was written. In the village having a landline phone at home was still a luxury and people were pretty much dependent upon the phone booth, but here Charan had one right in his apartment. This was the first time that Rachit would be calling Charan on his landline number.
The call rang a few times and then it was answered.
“Hello.. Charan..? It’s me Rachit” said Rachit excitedly
There was a pause on the other side for a second or two and then the words came through the mouth of the man on the other end
“This is not Charan’s number. This is a phone booth. We have asked him several times not to give out this number to others.”
“Wait… what? This is not his number?” asked Rachit
“Not it isn’t”
And the call was disconnected. Rachit hurriedly called back again and when the call was picked, he said
“Sir, I am sorry to disturb you. I am new to the city. Can you please help me out and tell me where Charan’s apartment is? It would be great help”
“I don’t know about apartment, but I have heard he lives in a shared room nearby”
Rachit noted the address of the area and made his way there.
The next day in the evening as Samarth sat opening the wrapping of his sandwich, he noticed Rachit sitting on one of the benches looking like a person who had lost a lot. Samarth wondered what could have happened to this person.
All the lies that Charan had used to build this life of his in the minds of the villagers had come to light. He never expected that anyone else would actually make it to the city to find work like him.
When Rachit got up to leave wondering if all was lost, his eyes fell on a few flyers haphazardly pasted on the wall behind the bench and amongst them there were some about work openings.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 
One response to “The Unexpected”
This is a quietly layered and very human story—it unfolds gently, but it carries a strong emotional undercurrent about trust, migration, expectation, and survival.
What stands out first is the parallel structure of Samarth and Rachit’s worlds. Samarth’s routine in the bus terminal creates a calm observational frame, while Rachit’s arrival introduces movement, uncertainty, and emotional weight. The contrast between stillness and displacement is handled subtly, without forcing drama.
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