A major part of my day in the first year of College life was commuting to college using public transport. 3 whole hours of a day, observing different kinds of people, while holding on for dear life during the rush hours. Like most colleges, my college is situated on a bustling highway where everyone is in a rush to reach places. Picture a buzzing road with plenty of signals, hospitals and colleges. The kind of road that they would show if they are introducing a city in a movie, imagine a narrator saying "This is Bangalore!!" or "Yeh hain apna Mumbai!!" or "Ithu thaa namma Chennai!!" They'd show this road for my city. Traffic moves at a snail's pace and even though everybody's in a rush, nobody seems to move. How would you if 20 buses are standing at a signal?
I spend a lot of time struggling with my entangled earphones while my friend uses my shoulder as a pillow. We always sit on the highest seat so that he can either doze off on my shoulder or on the "very clean" high window of the bus. Sitting on the highest seat has its own benefits. 1) The bus doesn't launch you into space when it goes over a bump, 2) They are mostly empty because people are scared of tearing a hole in their pants trying to reach it. (Good thing my jeans are stretchable) 3) You get a full view of the bus and you can observe people.
It isn't all roses and chocolates though, there are certain things you would encounter. 1) Getting into that spot is easy but stand up vigorously, and the next morning you would find a mound of pain protruding from your head. 2) People will use your legs as seats or bag stands. This happens a lot when school children barge in and hit you in the head with their large and heavy rucksacks. Then with sheer innocence, they will ask you to hold onto their bags until their stops come. Once the bag has been unloaded on your legs, they will proceed to chatter and exhibit stunts inside the crowded bus. A conductor is another person who would position himself on your knee while performing database management with his fingers. You are tempted to look inside his leather bag of riches even though you know there would only be bundles of 10 rupee notes. Yes, we have all peeped.
Now the transport corporation has replaced all the old, majestic buses with flashy red ones which have the seats at the same height. These new buses don't have the personality of the old ones. Their puny new horn reminds me of a new born child who hasn't seen the world yet. The old ones with the raunchy horn and vibrant orange signs remind me of grandpas waiting to tell you stories. Well, the high seats are gone and all that remain are memories of my long legs hitting the front seat.
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