January 9: The three Thane boys who ran away from home on Wednesday had contributed equally to the adventure - Nitin Gomde (13) provided the plan, Ganesh More (13) got the money and Ajaykumar Pasi (13) resisted the temptation to drop out even though he was very, very scared.They arrived back from Ousa in Latur district, accompanied by Nitin's uncle Rajesh Shinde today morning. They had reached Ousa late in the night after changing three buses. This reporter met all three at their respective houses after the request for meeting them together was rejected by their the families.While Ajaykumar Pasi is remorseful, the other two seem to be amused by all the attention they are getting from their relatives, neighbours and parents. Nitin, the brain behind the whole operation, recounted how he guided his friends to Ousa and chuckles when he comes to the part where they dodged Ganesh's mother while leaving his house.
``We had it all planned. I went out at around 11.30 am to meet Ajay who was waiting for me,''
Nitin says. ``After making sure that the money had been arranged for (Ajay stole Rs 500 from his house), we proceeded to Wartak Nagar to pick up Ganesh.'' The boys then took a rickshaw to Thane station and boarded a Titwala local and went to Dombivli. From there they took a bus to Panvel. Here Nitin, who had travelled frequently on the route with his parents, made some enquiries and they boarded a bus to Udgir.
Surprisingly, none of the passengers nor the conductor asked them any questions and they were given three tickets to Latur. They slept off in the bus and woke up when the bus reached Udgir. The boys then took a bus back from Udgir to Latur and then another from there to the interior Ousa village.
``It was quite cold...as night fell we began shivering with cold since two of us were wearing half shirts and pants,'' Ajay sobs as he recalls the experience. ``I was quite scared when the conductor rang the bell for the lights to be put out.'' He says he went along with his friends because he did not wantthem to think he was ``bayki'' (sissy). Nitin, dressed in denim trousers and a thick full-sleeved shirt was better equipped to fight the rigours of the journey. Not that a rousing reception awaited them at Oussa. ``My grandmother began crying when she saw us. She cursed me for travelling alone,'' Nitin says and adds, ``Mama immediately called Thane to inform my parents of our whereabouts.''
School and studies were the common reasons offered by the three when asked what had prompted them to run away. But Mores and the Pasis did not allow their sons to say anything against their schools. ``He has to attend the same school tomorrow. Where will he go if the school authorities hound him for holding them responsible?'' said Padmakar More, Ganesh's father. Nitin, however, spoke freely. ``I don't want to ever go back to the school again,'' he says.
But what was the immediate provocation? On Tuesday Ganesh and Nitin were pulled up by a teacher for growing their hair. ``The school does not have any place for
mawalis,'' they were told and detained at the gate. They were told that they would be allowed in only if they brought their parents along. ``We escaped when the teacher was busy with something else.There was not much time - we decided to run away the next day,'' Nitin admits.Principal of Raje Shivaji School, of which Nitin and Ganesh are students, said that Ganesh had run away from his house once earlier also in Std IV. According to Anita Jadhav, their class teacher, while Ganesh is good at studies, Nitin is a repeater. `Except for the school sports festival, he frequently bunks school.'' While promising that he will not be unduly harsh with the students when they report back, the principal, however, says, ``Some kind of deterrent action will be necessary or else every student in the school will learn a wrong lesson from this.''
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
