In search of the addressless!

"I left house when I was eight", said that boy. In search of the illusory happiness and running away from the real world of schools, exams and homework! 

He had only one leg, One huge hump on his back when I saw him. He would have been around fifteen. May be thirteen. He din't know his age. I was twenty one.  Life was at a different pace then! 

That boy had run away from strict parents thinking life will be full of roses. Sadly he did not see the thorns of the world out there. He took the only train available in his small town and two days after that found himself in a remote land speaking a different language with a multitude of people, cramming for every single inch of space. Bombay! After spending many years by the roadside and eating the leftovers of those who can afford, he decided to go back home.

Home he thought will be where the train which he came from goes to. Sadly, the train went to another filthy city with people speaking another language and in the mayhem of coming out of the railway station of Kolkata, he met with an accident and lost his leg. 

In that lost state, these two nun sisters from the mother Teresa's home found him. They took him back home. Nursed him. Fed him. Till he became alright. It was there I met him, when I was volunteering with the Mother Theresa's home.

He never spoke to anybody there. Strangely enough he realised I could speak the language he knew. We became friends and on the day I was leaving he said, "Can you find my parents for me?" Teary eyed, he hugged me! And I promised I will.

So all he knew was his house was small, near a market and in the town 'V'! 

My mind wrestled with the stupid idea of searching for the addressless! How do you look for somebody in the multitude without knowing anything? Quit it sam! You will not find him, said the usual voice. Oh no Sam. What if you find him, said a strange voice within. I decided to give it a try. I was not doing anything anyways then. 

So with a bag on my shoulder, I went. In to the town 'V'. Searching for this small house, near the market. 

I quit often! You are a fool, sam! That voice often wrestled. What are you looking for? It asked me. Oh well! The other shrill voice, kept me going. 

Do you know, it is nine years to this date that I found his house. That small house, near the market, in the town 'V'? That mother hugged me and cried. I called the Nun sisters and put the family on to the boy. And the fool I'm, did not get their contact number and follow up on the family. 

Did the boy join the family? Did the mother go all the way to pick that boy up? Did the sister, who was not on talking terms to the mother, talk to the brother? Is the boy mobile now? What happened to his lump? Was it operated on? And I did not even get the address. Should I make one more trip to check on him now? Will I be able to find them now? What if the parents had not bothered to pick him up at all? Will he still be in the orphanage? 

So who is up for one more adventure in search of all these questions? To the small house near the marked in the town 'V'. In search of the addressless!