Students’ spicy escapade: Chowmein trip to Firozabad @ ₹220 and back!
Four 11-year-old boys from Auraiya bunk classes, pool in money and hitchhike their way to Firozabad to savour tasty chowmein, leaving parents worried
KANPUR Four students of Class 5 left their home in Mudaina Roopshah village in UP’s Auraiya district on Wednesday, but did not return till late at night, leaving their parents worried who approached the police.
No one knew that these boys aged 11 - Arun Rathore, Ashish Prajapati, Pushkar Valmiki and Dev Kumar - had bunked classes to embark upon a “spicy escapade” to Firozabad (150km from Auriaya) to enjoy the city’s famous chowmein after pooling in ₹220, Ajitmal police informed the parents.
For the trip, one of them even sold his cricket bat for ₹150. They hitched a truck ride to Firozabad, leaving behind a trail of worried parents and baffled policemen.
After the chowmein feast in a park in Firozabad, the boys boarded a roadways bus back home late in the evening, opting for a ‘ticketless journey’ (because the conductor laughed it loud and didn’t charge them). He contacted SHO of Ajitmal police station in Auraiya, Rajkumar Singh and informed about the children.
“Our team got the children midway at Anantram toll plaza and brought them to Ajitmal this morning. The boys have been handed over to their parents,” he said.
Arun Rathore had savoured the chowmein several times in 2020 when he was staying with his family at his aunt’s house in Firozabad.
“Arun told his friends about this chowmein, which created a buzz about it among the other boys. They worked out their outing plan for three days and figured out how they would arrange money for the trip,” added Singh.
On Wednesday, they bunked classes, and Arun in between, sold his bat to another student for ₹150 while two of the friends brought ₹70 from home. With ₹220 in hand, they stopped a truck on the highway, and the driver gladly dropped them to Firozabad without charging a penny.
In Firozabad, Arun called on his cousin Golu who met the boys in a park where they had the chowmein. At night, they took a bus back to Auraiya.