The Nostalgic Bus Ride

During the 3 years of my college a recurring dream that I had was getting into an empty bus that’s en route to my college at the usual peak hours and finding a place to sit. 

Don’t think I’m crazy. Usual commuters will agree with me when I express the glee on seeing my favourite regular bus just looming from the distance.  (Yes, I have a favourite bus) And if I find some empty seats, well that will just make my day! :D

A regular two hours on the bus leaves you a lot of time and room to observe people around you. There is the “I-don’t-care-if-twenty-people-are-squeezing-me-I-will-still-talk-on-the-phone” kind of people that you can easily identify once you get on. Theirs are the voices you can still hear on a traffic jam when the whole vehicle is silent. There is also the “Seat hogger”. The minute someone rises from their seat, this person shoots through a crowded bus to the seat. I call these the terminal cases for they just HAVE to sit if they find an empty seat even if they are about to get down in 10 seconds.

There are also the ladies always ready to offer their loud and invaluable comments on anything and everything. For them no one is a stranger. If a couple inside the bus are holding hands she will go, “In our days all these were frowned upon…” to anyone who catches her eye. If the conductor yells at her she will be the indignant passenger fighting for her rights. If someone stamps her leg accidentally, boy you don’t want to be that someone. 

College boys hanging from the last step and still trying to catch an impressed eye, the school girls with their dead heavy bags, the nameless and wordless friendships that are made, the people who duck conveniently to avoid awkward hellos, the general struggle to get through the one hour amidst the crowd and the palpable relief when the destination finally arrives; All of these sights which are usually hard to get used to in the beginning become familiar soon enough and fade into a lull at the back of your mind as you grow to be part of the mayhem.

Now that I’m about 10 minutes away from my workplace, I realise how much I miss these 2 hours. I am in a position where I am having to allocate time to even listen to some music and I realise how much I took for granted, the time that was given to me every day. I miss my bus rides and the people I met… And well I guess I am still the same guileless commuter at heart because I still get the urge to get into an empty 10c or S8 (my college route buses), even though I am going elsewhere! :D