Lost and found....us!

 

What's to be dumbstruck, I got to know that day! Literally going dumb.

Mr. Husband, my elder son (didn't have the younger one then) and me, were in a great mood. Hence decided to roam around the town, as a quick outing.

On the way, it was decided to stop by for some shopping...groceries, clothes, etc.

So, Mr. Husband took a right turn to the mall.

Malls were, so to say, a recreational space, at that time. It was newly opened mall and a huge one too. Mr. Husband parked the car and we entered the mall. My son was 3.5 years old, then. He was excited, as he knew, he would be taken to the play area in the mall. Being a hyper active kid, he loved that place, with slides, cars and other fun activities.

We first went to Shoppers Stop. Mr. Husband and me, surfed through some clothing brands, but didn't like the collection. So we entered another shop. There was a good collection of women clothing. I was searching for my size, in tops and found a few. Mr. Husband didn't find anything for him. I took the tops to the fitting room, to try them on. When I came out, I didn't spot my son. He had this habit of hiding in the clothes stand, in between a lot of shirts or tops, that are hanged there. So I called out to him, asking him to stop messing with me, while going through the clothes on the hangers. He didn't respond. I searched the entire outlet, but didn't find him. I called to my husband, but the salesman said, he went to the outlet on the opposite side. I dropped the bag of clothes that was in my hand and ran to that shop.

I had thought that our son is with him, but Mr. Husband was unaware.....our son was missing. There was a misunderstanding, he didn't know, I was trying the tops. He thought sonny was with me and left the shop.

Our son had just started going to playschool. He could fluently speak Marathi, his Hindi and English was somewhat terse.

We both panicked.

We both ran hither thither, looking for him. All unwanted thoughts thronged in my mind. My heartbeats started sprinting. I spotted the help desk and went in to ask for help. But as they say, you become dumbstruck, that day, I learnt the meaning. I was totally numb. I couldn't utter a word. So I signalled the person to give me a pen and paper. I wrote telling him that my son is lost, my hands were shaking, writing had become difficult too!

He asked me to describe how he looks,  what he's wearing. He instantly gave instructions on his walky-talky. Tears were rolling from my eyes. I was feeling helpless. He comforted saying that they will find him.

Mr. Husband was still running around, to every shop, to every exit, asking guards, other people, if they had seen a small boy, wearing yellow tee and denim shorts.

And finally Mr. Husband came running to me, drenched in sweat (even in that fully air-conditioned mall). He had got a call from the guard at the Shoppers Stop, saying our son was there, with him.

We both raced to the shop. And there he was sitting on the counter, the guard standing next to him. Sonny saw us and gave a big broad smile. I picked him up in my arms, hugged him tightly, kissed his cheeks a thousand times. Mr. Husband wiping his sweat, hugged both of us.

The guard told us that he had spotted sonny roaming in the shop alone. When asked he had told the guard in broken Hindi, that his mom and dad are lost. The guard had smiled and took him to the counter and inquired about our phone numbers. Luckily we had made him, by heart, our numbers. So the guard could reach us.

We informed the help desk that.....we had finally found our sonny.....and he had found us!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: From that day on, I started keeping Identity cards in the pockets of my kids.

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