Tarak Chandra: Harrowing tale. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

A blind boy from a poor family, who cleared his Madhyamik, had collected Rs 130 with great difficulty and was coming to Calcutta to buy books for the Higher Secondary course he had just enrolled in.

He dozed off on a Sealdah-bound local train on Friday morning. When he woke up, he found not just his money, but also his walking stick missing.

Nineteen-year-old Tarak Chandra had been robbed of his dire need ? the stick, without which he could barely stumble along ? and his dream ? the Rs 130, without which he could not take the first steps towards becoming a teacher and helping blind boys and girls.

He broke down on reaching Sealdah station.

Seeing him weeping, a Samaritan stepped up to hold his hand and set off a chain of events that finally saw the blind boy returning home safe, with the books he was so desperately seeking.

Tarak, a resident of Guma, in North 24-Parganas, and a student of arts at Habra High School, left home early on Friday. He was headed for the language academy of Lok Siksha Parishad, at Narendrapur, to buy his books.

Having lost his father early, Tarak?s only source of support is his mother, who earns Rs 300 a month working as a cook for a family in their neighbourhood.

?I dozed off on a Bongaon local on my way to Sealdah,? Tarak recalled. ?Suddenly, I woke up and found my walking stick, that was lying on my lap, and the money in my shirt pocket missing. I can?t walk without the stick? Helped by a man, I managed to reach the crowded taxi stand at Sealdah, but failed to move any further.?

It was at the taxi stand that Basudev Sadhukhan, a resident of Tollygunge, saw Tarak weeping and went up to him. ?He was looking devastated. I had to help him,? Sadhukhan later said.

He took Tarak to Lighthouse for the Blind, a school on SP Mukherjee Road in the Tollygunge area, from where Tarak had appeared for his Madhyamik. ?I decided to go to my school and seek help from my former teachers. But, unfortunately, no one was there,? Tarak said.

Sadhukhan then took him to Tollygunge police station, nearby. ?When he was brought here, he was shivering and crying,? said sub-inspector Subhojit Sen. Sen contacted NGO Hive India, which took the boy to its office, bought him the books and cassettes he needed, and dropped him home.

?I thank all those who helped me when I had given up hope,? said Tarak.