Bus No.78

It was 8:15 in the morning and the bus had not yet arrived. We started to feel a bit worried about being late to the Biology class. But in some corner of my mind I was happy that I would be missing at least one day of salmonella typhi and his consorts. There was a certain relief in that wait for the bus. I was sure my friends felt the same.

We broke off from the activity (near the house) after 8:15 in the morning and returned only after 3:30 in the afternoon. I used to wonder of what happened during that time. We had no clue. For us it would be single ruled, broad ruled and double ruled during that period. It was a good chance to observe world beyond 8:15 that day.

The bus stop started to get crowded and was soon filled with many office goers. There were not many children. Just us. An old woman with mouthful of betel came tattering with her cane basket to the bus stop. She stopped and asked what time it was. Some one said it was 8:25; Some one else said “No, it is 8:30” and insisted that his watch was set to the Delhi relay on the radio. She just ignored the difference and sat there with her cane basket and frequently wiping the sweat off her brow.

The old woman had sweet meats, pepper mints, lollipops and chocolates in the basket. There was her cash bag ( an old sack like structure with grease marks where she stored her betel and money) hanging to her waist as she counted the money for the ticket. The nickel coins glittered in the morning sun.

Soon, the sun started heating up the air and we started to sweat. There was no shade to hide. We just stood there and wanted the bus to come quickly now. There was a break in the flow of vehicles as we heard a distant horn. These indicated the bus was here at last. As soon as it stopped, we got into the bus and occupied the rear end seats, as always.