I stood at the bus
stop of Rabale Station headed to Sion to meet up with friends after a long time.
Standing in the hot sun for a while I murmured to myself, “Am I getting late or
what. I have really had it this time. My friends are going to gobble me up alive
if I am late again.” The BEST fares had just been increased and it was already
stretching my already cash strapped wallet, and this waiting was starting to
get on my nerves too. But to my surprise I saw a BEST Express (Limited Stops) bus
to Sion headed my way. I guessed I must have done something right this morning,
hah?
Having entered the bus
in exuberance, I found my seat easily enough and settled down for the long road
ahead thanking my good luck. Soon the conductor (ticket master) started doing
his rounds for tickets and I reached down my pocket to get my money. To my
horror I found that I only had a 100 rupee note on me and no chutta (change) on
sight, which I would like to stress, is one of the worst things that could
happen to a commuter in Mumbai or for that matter in Navi Mumbai as well. Gathering
my believes in divine intervention, I comforted myself by reminding myself that
the commute had gone well thus far and I will surely find a way out of this tricky
situation that I have found myself in.
As I started looking
for a good excuse which will compel the conductor to accept my 100 bucks, I
heard a commotion in the front of the bus. I puzzlingly decided to put my good
listening skills to use. The conductor and a young man were squabbling over a
20 rupee note that the young gentlemen had offered to the conductor for a 5
rupee ticket. The conductor was insisting on exact change and the gentlemen
kept pleading that it wasn’t a 100 rupee note and the conductor could well give
him change if he so desired. My heart sank as I was the one with the 100 note
and realized there is possibly no way the conductor would give into any of my
excuses now.
The conductor bluntly
and perhaps unjustly asked the gentlemen to get down on the next stop if he
doesn’t have change. I was amazed at the hypocrisy in display and the sheer
arrogance of the people today. But fortunately for the young man a Good
Samaritan came to his rescue and offered him change as they were getting down at
the same stop and could adjust the fare amongst themselves once they
disembarked from this unwelcoming bus journey.
I took in a deep
breath and steadied myself for a full-on tirade against me -- for which, I was
mustering courage to fend off the best I can. I heard the conductor step closer
and I could hear my heart pounding at the impending onslaught. Curiously, the
footsteps ceased as the conductor seemingly pirouetted around to the front of the
bus.
There a lady was poised to
get down when the conductor asked her to show him the ticket. She abrasively
and without a shade of ambiguity confronted the conductor and said, “I don’t
have a ticket. Where were you all this time? Should I wait an eternity for you?
Don’t just keep on raising the fares but do your duty as well!”
The master looked
dumbfounded at this counter offensive by this lady who was clearly in the
wrong. The master not ready to back away from this fallacy started to hit back,
accusing the lady of looking for a free ride and siphoning off the blame on others
when she is clearly up to a misdemeanour herself. The two were now embroiled in
a relentless escapade of accusation and counter-accusation which was only ended
when the bus halted at the lady’s stop and the master handed the ticket over to
the lady -- only after he had extracted exact change from her.
I withdrew deeper into
my seat as I realized my chances of reasoning with the master have been blown
to smithereens. My pulse started racing to the situation at hand as I sensed
the anger and frustration in the master’s eyes.
He thundered towards me
like a man on a mission. I knew he was right there when I the heard the singeing
words I dreaded, “ticket, ticket…”, made worse the next sentence he chose to
complement it with, “Everyone, tender exact change. I don’t have a trove of
chuttas here to dish out for you” My jaw dropped. I was breathing heavily and
sweat started appearing from nowhere as I awaited a public embarrassed reserved
for a very few morons like me.
I couldn’t muster the courage
to look at him when I offered him the only note I had on me and said, “Sion.”. The
impending sight of the master was too horrific a sight to even comprehend which
was sure to ruin my entire year let alone my day; the verbal assault that was
set to follow was sure to give my ears a beating of a lifetime. I could hear
his breathing also getting harder as I sat with my head hanging low. I was calling
all the divine beings I could remember during this standoff which had taken the
form of a war of attrition. I awaited the pounce and the bite after the
frightening roar as moments ticked by that resembled a millennia.
To my complete
bewilderment I saw a ticket being flashed at my face – change included. I
looked up and saw the conductor’s face calmer than I anticipated -- to my shell-shocked
amazement. He repeated, “Take your ticket”. I jolted back to what had
transpired, back from the horrific scenes that I had played out in my mind. I
took the ticket. The conductor continued, “You don’t look too well. Go to a
doctor as soon as you can.”
I was like, wow, my sheer
apprehension and panic tricked the master to thinking I was unwell and he
decided to pardon my infringement of sorts. This has to be divine intervention.
I also knew that the poor master had had a bad day himself and it was he who was
more drained than me. Maybe he just had enough of the constant haggling and
repetitious arguments over change, tickets, fare hike, the crowd, the bus
schedule, rash driving et cetera, et cetera. However, I had no comforting words
to offer the master as I had no idea what would help. I could only imagine and
envisage with empathy the plight of those who travel these long distances every
day and the torrid time they have to endure. May God bless them is all I could
muster at this time.
Soon, I was at Sion. I got
down and headed to CinePlanet, Sion where my friends stood waiting. I
reminisced of the travel I just had and the thought of all I met and what I experienced
sashayed in my head like a roller-coaster ballet, especially the poor conductor
and his conundrum. I prayed his days and therein the days of the people he
meets only gets better. I turned to my friends who were impressed to see me on
time and said, “Guys, you know what happened on my way here……”
Source: Hubbrz.com
No comments:
Post a Comment