I reached the bus stand 10 minutes earlier than my usual time. I had recently had a minor upset stomach, the medicines to which lay in my pocket. I quickly reached a roadside shop and bought a pack of chips and another packet of Water (One rupee wonly). As I paid for them, I watched an almost empty 17M whoosh by.
I looked at my watch : 8:50AM. "Plenty of time to get there" - I thought to myself as I took a gulp from my water packet. 17M was the bus which took me to work, and it wasn't uncommon to see 3 of them right next to each other on a bus stand, giving commuters a free choice.
8:55 - No Sign Of Any Bus.
9:05 - A 27G comes, That'll do. I start walking towards it but it speeds down to another bus stop about 20 meters away. I wordlessly mutter DC curses a the driver and the moron who got the idea to build 2 bus stops 20 meters apart.
9:10 - I see Yogesh and Pavan. Yogi dives on into a story about some woman in a bus, as i feign interest, I remember pavan telling me he had to reach by 9. "Shall we take an auto?", I look back to ask yogesh, he's alreado on a 17M. I run after the bus and somehow manage to get in.
The bus, in short was crowded. It reminded me of Goa, about the last Vasco-Birla bus of the day were they implemented the best packing technique for human beings, with blatant disregard to their need for air. I took a look around, It was difficult ; My head had been locked into a position by the crowd. I saw a clean shaven Sardaarji, A young girl with a school ID round her neck, Yogesh and right next to me, a woman in her 40s right next to me.
The woman turned around. As soon as she saw me, as though by a reflex, she started hurling abuses at >50 dB at me. I couldn't understand the words she was using, but as a person who knew the language of the world, I understood her as though she was speaking in my native language.
5 Minutes passed, I got the feeling that she was enjoying the experience. I looked down, our feet were far apart. Both my hands were clutching the iron bars on the roof - I was at a safe distance. By this time I could clearly understand that the woman was now talking about the way I was brought up and what manners my parents had taught me. The place where I got off was close, and the woman's voice was gaining weight as time passed. As the bus slid into the TVS bus stop, my face drew up in a smile, This was my time for revenge. "Tamil Teriyad", I said as I waited to see the expression on her face before getting off.
3 comments:
You're back!
yes, and so are you! :)
hehe, I know, i mentioned there that relocational inflation is a misnomer.
Post more often, the stuff you wrote was a good read.
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