The roads looked clear despite the intermittent rain. What was missing? Ah! The black and yellow of the taxis. My moment of euphoria at my discovery quickly disappeared as I realized that there was a taxi strike and I had no way to get home.I paced outside my Prabhadevi office, close to panicking. My office boy jumped to my rescue by telling me about 3 buses which I could take. After years of travelling either by car or taxis, I was going to travel by bus.
I tried to give myself a pep talk. My office boy had told me that bus no. 110 stopped right outside my house, and I was determined to catch it. Just as I was crossing the road and approaching the bus-stop, I saw it pass by. I had missed it by a whisker!
What should I do? I felt determined to wait. After about ten minutes, two buses came which went to Wadala but they would drop me a little far from my house. I let them go, determined to wait for Bus No. 110. I waited, and waited, and grew impatient.
I thought I could be smart and look for a taxi while waiting for the bus. There were a few taxis, but nobody was willing to go to Wadala. Was everybody was conspiring against me? Some people were lucky enough to get taxis. Why not me?
Should I hitch a ride? I had done that in college days, but wasn’t so sure now. Happy people in their chauffer driven cars passed me by. Ask them for a lift? I felt as though they were laughing at me, or pitying me. Was it my imagination? And wasn’t I one of those people till yesterday?
Pray for bus no. 110. I did and then I saw it. Bus No. 110. My prayers were answered! I was ready to get in. The bus refused to show any chances of slowing down. I started waving frantically. Stop! Stop! It ruthlessly sped by. How could this happen to me? A fellow passenger sympathized with me. “It was full; you see that’s why it didn’t stop.” I should have prayed for the bus to stop as well. I didn’t anticipate god’s technicalities.
I had spent half an hour at the bus-stop and my feet hurt. I was frustrated and angry with the taxi drivers. Why had I let my husband take the car today?
It wasn’t raining but I suddenly felt two giant rain drops on my head, and looked up. I was amazed by the greenery that I saw. I was outside Rabindra Natya Mandir in Prabhadevi, and the lush green trees on either side formed a wonderful canopy on the entire road. I had been on this road so many times before, and yet had never noticed it.
There was something about looking at the natural green umbrella above me which calmed me down, and brought things in perspective. It was just a bus journey for a day. And I was getting to enjoy the wonderful weather and see things I hadn’t noticed before.
As if the universe were waiting for me to reach this realization, an empty bus going to Wadala came. As I sat inside it reminded me of my school bus. I felt like a child again.
From the bus, I got a bird’s eye view of all the shops, the people walking by. A small boy trying a raincoat, girls giggling and bargaining for earrings. I could smell the hot samosas as I passed by a local stall. Was this what I missed when I travel in my stuck-up air conditioned car? I got a strange kick from the fact that the bus was the king of the road. Nobody dared come in its way, as we zoomed past every single car on the road.
My fifteen minute walk home from the bus-stop was made fun when a friend from Pune called, and we merrily chatted through it. We talked about the days when we would scrimp and save, travel by bus, train, and sometimes even walk. We never complained. In fact we would enjoy the journey. I suddenly didn’t miss my car anymore.
The next day I was back to commuting in my car. The taxi strike too had ended. As I made my way to office, I saw the many crowded bus-stops. Only this time I wasn’t sure who was laughing at whom!
