bus

The Alarm sounded with its usual shriek - waking me from my dream
of soft kisses and gentle touches - I yelled @$#%* - !!!
I was going to be late again the third time this month and it was only the tenth!!
I leaped out of bed and rushed to the shower, stumbling on
the discarded pillows as I moved. -
My god another day like the last ten - HOT AND HUMID -

I couldn't expect anything less it was June.

I mumbled to myself for what seemed like the
thousandth time "welcome to China" - !!

I rushed down the stairs of my appartement, the sweat already
making my shirt stick to my back. Now outside, it was rainy;
I ran to the stop around the corner, promising myself as I ran
that I would stop smoking today. I usually caught the bus at 7 -
but now it was 7:20!! I needed to wait for only a few minites,
surprisingly, with almost no effort got a seat in the already
crowded bus. And what a seat it was ! My nose discovered by
the smell in the air that given this new environment,
my clothes were easily classifiable as clean.
These being rainy days, the feeling needs no exaggeration of
expression and was more than strong when I saw the people
around me : sweating by the struggle in the bus and tired by the
previous day but fresh for the morning. I at once realized how
I would be looking a few days from now, for I was a new
entrant in the community of those innumerable up-downers
who regularly traverse the route I was now taking.

There is a characteristic planned-ness about up-downers.
It inevitably shows up in their gestures, expressions and activities.
Some bear a grim look, with heavy eyelids and a frozen composition,
others glad to be alive, with knowing rye smiles.
The view of the buildings from glass and steel,
modern structures to the older concrete "pre-fabricated" low-rise type,
reflects the change in the landscape as we, my fellow travelers and
I move out of the city and into the outskirts, the clamor of other
travelers and the frequent vocal outbursts by hawkers,
the squeal of horns (at what seems every opportunity) -
nothing perturbs them.
The Journey, to them, has ceased to pose any attraction at all and
has become a forced boredom. Some board the bus in a
calm but quick manner, look upon people around them with an
air of indifference, and with the planned swiftness of the "routine" park
themselves or squeeze into a corner - Now the bus is packed tight -
I'm no longer a single occupant on my seat I am forced to share
with two others.They remain quiet and relatively still for a stop or two,
and then, to my utter surprise, talk to the next man as if they've
known each other for years ! . The man jammed next to me pointed
at my shoes (a fine pair or slip-on's) and I understood the indication
to take them off and put them, my bare feet close to fan.
Funny people we are, we are intolerant and arrogant only so
far as our immediate concerns are endangered by people exactly like us.
The same intolerance turns into an irresponsible lack of
concern when it comes to making efforts for solving problems
common to us. But that is another point. At this moment the
peculiar character boarded the bus...of which I now write.

The bus stopped at a jerk - Screeched the brakes.....
Two people left - Squeezing off - relieved it seemed to me,
that again they were safe on - "solid ground" and thanked
the "bus gods" , and silently, as in a well rehearsed pantomime,
moved off into the thickening crowds. He was a young man,
thin and of medium height, some hairs forming above
his upper lip, a reptilian jaw line which seemed all the more
pronounced from my point of perspective. His features bore a
funny look but the expression on them was serious.
As he came, he immediately grabbed a tiny space on a seat,
close to mine, and began looking around him, as if for air.
Then, finding a familiar face at the other end of the bus,
he stretched his lips to an artificial smile.
Then all of a sudden became serious again, and despite the
little space he had to settle his body in, he maneuvered to take
out a pocket-size, note book - He scribbled a couple of notes -
I wondered how busy this young man was to have the need to
make such an effort...and began to move the pages over, as if
looking for a note from a previous days journey.
His face changed synchronously with his activities and
when his eyes found the right page, his eyebrows too stretched
upon his vast forehead, solemnly rendering his face with the
seriousness of a scholar and authority upon the subject.

While in my mind I was admiring this fine anthropological
specimen, I was taken aback by the sudden yells of the person
squeezed "two bodies" away. It seemed that my bag had slipped,
due to the busses frantic stops and starts in the busy "rush-hour"
traffic and had landed on one of my fellow passengers bare feet,
leaving a large pink welt. A 'sorry', though all that was appropriate
in the circumstance and all that was possible with language,
was not enough to satisfy him and the mere act of the accident
sparked a vigorous conversation in the group sitting close-by
I could only imagine what the topic was - Ha!!! I could imagine!!
The expressions were not at all pleasant.... An old man on the
window seat, who till now had spoken nothing so much as a word to
anybody around him, found something of utmost interest and
importance in this conversation and drew out an anecdote from
his experiences of decades to the amusement of the others.
The conversation gained Newtonian momentum by this extraordinary
presentation and invited participation of two other travelers.

Sighing, I took the newspaper from my bag and began reading
an article on emerging technologies in the IT industry,
wondering as I read how I would explain why i was late......