From Maximum City, tale of maximum duty

Like clockwork, he picked up the two students at 4 pm. Though it was raining heavily, nobody expected floods. Two hours later, they had only reached the marooned Bandra-Kurla Complex, some 10 km away.

The 55-year-old headed for Kurla, but the traffic wasn’t moving. ‘‘The only thought I had was how to keep these two safe,’’ he recalls. ‘‘So I drove the auto inside a slum area, found a mound which was least likely to be submerged and parked there.’’

It was about 11 pm and the youngsters were hungry. But all the restaurants were shut and they had to make do with water. Both the passengers realised the gravity of the situation. ‘‘They didn’t complain once about spending the night in the auto,’’ recalled Veer who ensured they stayed dry. The next morning, a vendor selling guavas passed by and Veer bought three fruits. But that was not going to be enough. So, he took the auto to Kurla (West) and returned with a pack of biscuits. Then it was time to begin the journey to Bandra, where Namita stays. Wading in water, keeping his cool, talking all the time, Geer finally dropped Namita at 6 pm. Ajay’s house, in Vile Parle, was, though, impossible to reach that day.

‘‘By this time, Ajay was missing his mother and worried too. I tried to contact his family, but just couldn’t get through.’’ The bespectacled Veer, who has a night vision problem (he usually avoids driving at night), convinced Ajay they should go to his house. He agreed,’ Veer said.

They reached his Mankhurd home at 11 pm. His wife Vijaya cooked a simple meal of dal, chawal, rotis and pakoras. Ajay slept on the only sofa in the house. Thursday morning, Vijaya bathed Ajay and gave him a breakfast of pohe. Veer left for Vile Parle as soon as the streets cleared.

Ajay’s mother and paternal aunt were anxious about his whereabouts. Yet they knew Veer would take care of him. Sandhya Karambelkar could not contact her son’s school or Veer as all the phones were dead. Ajay finally reached home at 1 pm and broke down when he saw his mother. ‘‘I will always be in Veer’s debt,’’ was all that his mother could say. But Veer had just kept his word. ‘‘A year ago I had promised you that your son is my responsibility. I haven’t done anything great, I have only kept my promise,’ he told Karambelkar.