Travel in 5B

"im afraid we have to go home by bus!!" declared my friend D. We had just been to the kabalishwarar temple in mylapore and her car wouldn't start. It was around 5 45 pm and there was a huge crowd at the bus stop.

"it looks like its going to rain" I said. She just raised an eyebrow. "We can always take an auto" I helpfully added. "High maintenance" was the reply.

She turned to me and said "just because you are going to travel in a public transport does not mean that you are going to be mauled brutally and killed or something"..

After having heard tat I had no chance but to embark on this dangerous journey. A huge bus (5B) came to a screeching halt and I could scarcely conceal a shudder when I saw the crowd packed inside. "See you later", I said in what I hoped was a cheerful tone.

I was plunging in through a sea of people, when a stout lady plummeted some (probably 100 kg) of her weight against me and made her way in with undaunted enthusiasm. While I was doing gymnastics on the footboard the bus moved. My only thought at that moment, to make my way inside and I would be eternally grateful to all the gods of the world.

I passed the money for the ticket and it went from hand to hand …….. I knew I had to be patient and wait like maybe 500 years! Finally there it was that little green piece of sheet. As I stretched out my hand to grab it a shrill piercing voice in my ears "eeeekkk!! U stepped on my toes.. Probably injured me for life!!"… as I tried to wriggle myself out of there. I heard the voice go "you did it again!"….

Good grief! Through a confused blur I found myself losing my balance… it was the vegetable vendor who peered at me worriedly and asked "you dint land on anything did you!" Touched by her concern I said "no just the floor!" "Thank goodness.. Otherwise the tomatoes would have been crushed!" was the reply….

Grrrhhh!!! Someone taps me on the shoulder and asks me to pass a piece of paper to the girl standing in front of me.. turns out it is a love letter. The girl looks at me and says " you don't have to do courier service for thugs!". A small kid starts wailing in my ear. I revealed my charming 32 in a vicious snarl and the mother beams back at me.

Another eternity later I hopped out of the bus and it didn't take me long to realize I got down in the previous stop. When I reached home all battered and bruised, I felt a wave of pity for divya Visions of D painfully tormented in the bus haunted me. I called her up.

"Hi!" said a sinfully cheerful voice. "Guess what! After you left my manni happened to come by and she dropped me home in 5 mins. Great huh!"

"You… what?. I thought u liked to travel by bus!!!" I yelled.

"Oh! I don think I would have made it. Unlike you I am very delicate you know, and am hardly used to that sort of thing" was the reply.

Grrrrrr!!!! Some people do lead charming lives..