This incident occurred soon after my son Aniket had just begun walking.One day as usual I was busy performing the morning household chores sitting on the threshold of the bathroom. Aniket was playing around in the kitchen. Occasionally he would come to me and hug me from behind and again he would walk away.I wanted to place a bucket behind the bathroom door. To do this, I had to push the bathroom door. And lo! I made a blunder here. As soon as I had pushed the door, the door was properly closed. Aniket was standing near the door and I was not aware of that. Just then he placed his hand on the hinge of the door and gave it a slight push. The door was bolted.Aniket had not done this before. He hardly knew how to bolt and unbolt the door. I was wondering how he had done it on that day? I thought, may be, out of sheer curiosity he placed his hands on the hinge which got bolted. My numerous fervent calls ``Aniket please open the door" fell on his deaf ears. My shouting baffled him and he began to cry.Perplexed, I called out to my neighbours through the tiny window of the bathroom. Fortunately I had kept one of the grilled windows of the living room opened. Unable to do something to open the door, the neighbours kept asking Aniket loudly to unbolt the door. But Aniket did not respond. Seeing my neighbours in such a large number, he grew nervous and began weeping more loudly . I could not see my bundle of joy wailing for me. I broke down, cursing, my fate while banging the door. I then started praying. This was the least I could do at the great perturbed moment.Soon my prayer was heard. Suddenly one of the young boys named Shrikant, a neighbour of mine, thought of a brilliant idea. He rushed to his house and returned with a cricket stump in his hands. Pushing the cricket stump through the grilled window he began hitting blind strokes on the edge of the hinge of the door. So many futile strokes, and then the one and only stroke and the most magical stroke, loosened the hinges. The door was opened and I was out.Coming out of the bathroom I hugged my child with tears rolling down my eyes. Aniket was petrified. Thanks to all my neighbours, I got out of the terrible situation.
