EMIN & BIBIN

 

EMIN & BIBIN

Emin & Bibin are students at the KUT Seminary, Kannammoola. They are in their third year BD. As they were quite good in their studies they had been deputed by the Seminary to the Bishop’s College, Kolkata for a four month’s Exchange Programme. It meant they attended classes at the College for one semester. It was a window for them to the world far away from their own environment. According to them, it was a lifetime opportunity. They said they were happy they could be in another city. They could mingle and interact with students from across the country. The challenge was, they had to satisfy themselves with food habits quite alien to their own state. They found food quite cheap in Kolkata. Their experience was, the cost of food for the whole day had never exceeded Rs.150.00

Emin is Emin Joseph Michael and Bibin, Bibin Varghese Mathew. They are from the Pathanamthitta District of Kerala.

Christmas is a time of celebration at the KUT Seminary. Students are encouraged to create and devise programmes.on their own. They decorate the Seminary Campus bringing their imagination into play. The Stars and the Christmas Trees draw admiration from the visitors and the passersby.

As part of the decorations, the proposal of Emin & Bibin to make a Christmas Tree from empty plastic bottles at their Hostel drew wholesome acceptance by the students and the faculty. There lay the problem. The headache of creating something out of nothing falls on the proposers themselves. There was no exception here. Once their proposal was accepted, Emin and Bibin were assigned the duty to make the Christmas tree with plastic bottles. The beauty was, they were expected to bring their design into fruition within a week.

One good thing about both the gentlemen is that once they are into something, they dive to the deep bottom and rise up victors.

The major issue was the sourcing of the empty plastic bottles. Their extensive enquiries led them to the Kochuveli – Thiruvananthapuram North – Railway Station. They rode their bike to the station. They started enquiring from the fifth platform. However, they learned they had to meet the Station Master, who alone could provide them the information they needed. They climbed the foot over bridge and reached the first platform that had the Station Master’s Office.

As they were moving on the platform, they overheard a boy of around 15 years of age enquiring with an official of the Railway, where he could catch a train to Mangalore. They heard the response too. He had to reach Thambanoor for that.

In the meantime our friends could meet the Station Master who provided them the contact information of the contractor who had been clearing the empty plastic bottles accumulating at the station. But when they contacted the person, they were advised they would have to wait  as he was in a location half an hour away.

Though the smell of the banana fry was permeating there from the Tea Shop on the platform, they resisted the temptation to enjoy it with  tea, since they had left for Kochuveli soon after their Lunch at the Mess. They were fitness freaks.

They had half an hour to while away. They went on exploring the platforms. It was tiring, but they hated idling. There was nothing else to do.

As they went on, the boy they observed earlier had approached them. He had a strange request. He wanted them to speak to his mother at Nileshwaram. He explained he had never been in Trivandrum before.

The mother sought their assistance. She said the boy had reached Trivandrum through his own fault. He had come down from Nileshwaram to Ernakulam to partake in a sports event . When he had reached the Ernakulam South Railway Station he had boarded a train to Kochuveli by mistake instead of catching the Train to Mangalore. As he was very tired he had slept throughout the journey. At last when the train halted at Kochuveli, the cleaning personnel woke him up and had advised him to detrain.

The mother requested them to help her son board a train to Mangalore from Trivandrum so that he could reach home without any hindrance.

Our friends asked the boy whether he had any food after he caught the train in the wrong direction. The reply was interesting. The boy said as he was training in the Gym, he had regulated his food intake.

They however felt it was not right to go without food for such a long time. They took the boy to the Tea Shop and bought him the tempting Banana Fry along with tea. As they found their resistance melting, they too enjoyed the snack.

Emin and Bibin decided to proceed to Thambanoor and help the boy catch the train to Mangalore. But there was a glitch. The time was 2.30pm. The next train to Mangalore from Thambanoor was leaving only at 6.30 pm.

Emin and Bibin found a solution. Emin said he would return to the Hostel as two people alone could ride the bike.

Bibin took the boy to LULU, Trivandrum and they didn’t even know how three hours had gone off fast. The boy did have a good time. He enjoyed the Food Court very much.

Bibin finally took the boy to the Thambanoor Railway Station and helped him buy his ticket and saw him off on the train to Mangalore.

The boy was grateful to Emin and Bibin. To his query how he should repay their kindness, they replied, “If and when you happen to find person in a similar predicament, please assist him like we have done for you today.”