The Lone Traveller - III

Not that I try to play angel all the time…. I was on a bus from office to Adyar..a lady with her four year old son sat next to me and I started talking to the kid. She got her ticket, but it flew off when the conductor tried to hand it to her.. It was a 12Rs ticket and got lost in the crowd. It was the conductors fault. He asked her to get another ticket, which she refused to. I supported her and said you don’t have to get another ticket. He said there might be checking at Taramani..I told her I would speak for her to the checkers and we could also ask the conductor to tell them that she had indeed got a ticket. The checkers got in at Taramani and asked her to pay a fine. She refused saying it had flown off .. I spoke for her, but they gave me a look a cold stare that will not forget for life. The conductor refused to testify – the motive- the checkers wanted a bribe. They asked her to get off the bus if she did not want to pay up the bribe “Pay 100 here, or pay Rs. 500 after we take you to the station” – heartless bastards.. She was so humiliated at the prospect of being taken to the police station that she paid them the bribe, with the whole crowd in the bus watching. I started feeling guilty that I had not pressed her to get the ticket again in the first place. Her eyes were welled up for the rest of the journey. I apologised and tried my best to console her. If there was any one day I was totally fed up with the Indian bureaucracy - that was it. I later called up my friend who knows all the rules in the book and asked him if it was correct to penalise someone even after the entire bus saw her get the ticket. He told me it is mandatory to produce the ticket when asked for as per the Motor Act. I vowed to myself never to get involved in anything I did not know.
For an overnight journey to Trichy, nothing like our dear Indian Railways – it may not be the cleanest or the most stylish – but trains have this super chugging sound that puts you off to sleep the moment you lie down in those not so comfortable seats. All of us would have made friends in train journeys and I am no exception. Whenever I get the chance, I take the electric trains across Chennai to beat the traffic – but make it a point to stand near the entrances and watch the city than take a seat.
Last of all, my dear Pep will feel bad I don’t say how much I love to drive. My free Trichy roads, driving as fast as my bike would go with the wind blowing right through my hair – that thrill is unparalleled. Life has changed ever since I came to Chennai, but I miss my bike ever so much. Travelling with friends and family is rocking fun…but lone travels are fun too… One of my favourite quotes – “the real traveller has no destination :-) ”.
Such journeys help us understand the small pleasures of life, the kindness we take for granted, that little smile that is hard to come by, that small favour that brightens the day. It helps us stay grounded all the time, when we meet so many people from all walks of life – united for that small time they travel together. The best drink ever – that cool tender coconut after getting off a bus on a hot day. What brings the widest smile on a journey? - a not-so-crowded bus with a super seat by the window, slight drizzle as it moves, and as I frantically run my thumb all over my mobile switching channels I hear “Vellai pookal ulagam engum malarhave.. vidiyum bhoomi amaidhikaaga vidihave………….”