My open mouthed gaze towards one Skoda sports car was short lived because behind that slender beauty….was a voluptuous beast. The atmosphere started getting tense, a ‘hussssshhhhhh’ dominated the scene. I, accidently stepped over ‘a thin as a thread' sandal of a lady , thereby crushing her cute toe. She beemed at me, I got ready to be slapped. But nothing happened , tension was abuzz, it was 6:15 PM . 602 was coming.
5:45- 6:00 – My down the hill walk marking the end of my office schedule often starts with a prayer ,”Lord just give me one seat in that bus…the window one will be great , but then anything worth sitting is fine”. As I reach the office gate , I slowly, narrowly, delllicattely turn my eyes towards left, watch the crowd waiting for the bus and march ,as if a freedom fighter is going to the gallows in the hope of getting his decision reversed, towards the the stop, and start waiting for BEST bus – 602.
6:00- 6:15 - The mind is all set, the body is all geared up, all prayers said , the eyes are focused firmly on the road. The crowd around is increasing, similarly my heart beat too, though at a much faster rate.’Thank God!!!’ is what I say when I see a person walking across the stop, showing no interest, although some mercy on us.”Fuck”(in Hindi), is spitted out as soon as a guy stands besides me , making his intentions clear, that of catching the red devil.
6:16- 6:20 – Like a Jew is unable to explain the Holocaust , a Japanese cannot describe the 1945 Nuclear explosion, similarly,these 4 minutes …no…240 seconds are undescribable, unexplainable and unapproachable. Well , they just happen. Those are spiritual moments. You don’t see your caste, your colour , your clothes , all of them seems to be momentary,what the sages have called ‘Maya’. You see the path towards the truth, you want to catch the bus , you, want to grab a seat.
6:20- 6:30 – I didn’t get a seat , am standing. My prayers have been shown the exit door. I am terrified, am perplexed. There is nothing sadder than this, even if I catch impotency , even if I get to know that this is the last day of my life,nothing beats the melancholy of this moment. Now, when each of my senses are blocked , my nose has become proactive.I can breathe in the stench of all the IT pros alongside me, contributing heavily in the GDP of the nation. I can feel the jasmine of the hair oil the buddy next to me, has poured over his head….I feel as if the conductor is coming towards me…”pudhe sarka..sarka pudhe”..these sounds touch my ears. I can see nothing except for a patch of road, which I am looking through an opening . I use the shape of that patch to get to know whether I am in the Powai region, or have reached the Eastern Express Highway.
6:30 - 7:00 – It has started becoming all right now. I am getting used to the stench, the jasmine, the mob. I am in a trance. Except for my I-card, I guess I have nothing, I owe nothing, I own nothing. I am a loner in this crowd who wants to reach home, feel the warmth of it. We all have transcended our bodies and have become one holy mass ,desperate to see a light, our destination. And then, IIT main gate comes , and I lose that warmth ,I come out of the holy spirit.
IIT was the place I always wanted to be a part of. I knew I wasn’t one of those but the screams of the outer world were too loud for me to hear the inner voice. I gave one year just to get an entry across that gate. I ended up being in a C grade college(though I loved every part of it). Today, I was staring across that gate. I wanted to catch just one glimpse of a student, owner of a perfect grey matter, guys who are revered nationwide,people, who study there, go to US. Study MS, stay in the US, thus ,leaving the nation to its gutters, filthiness and crowds.
7:00– 7:15 – The crowd has started dispersing,the bus is moving fast toward my stop- Kanjur marg. The journey, in hindsight can now be seen as an adventure, a story whose glorious end, I am able to see- my stop. I have gleefully stepped out of the bus, as if I have single handedly won the world cup for India, or have made her a superpower. I turn around, start gearing myself for another bus, another ride……another story.
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