AN ANECDOTE OF MY WEEKEND BUS JOURNEY

              This weekend bus journey was from Palliport to Angamaly Via Cherai- N.Parur.A question arose in my humble mind - Are all private buses [Red-killers and similar buses] alike?!!!
                I had an appointment at 1210 hrs, for my son at the famous eye-hospital in Angamaly. Kudos to this hospital  for improving the vision of his right eye, Which was affected with Keratoconus.. He had a minor operation in last August and this was a follow-up visit.
                 We were already late to leave the house because the coconut-climber appeared before me when I popped into the verandah to take my slippers. I was on the look-out for him for quite some time and wished to inform him about it through the media. It was such a great surprise  you know!They are in such great demand these days that one has to go and pick  him up in his posh car to put the coconuts ( and don't ever forget to drop him back home.) This is one of the reasons why I wish to live in a flat during my old age. At least I won't have to put up a look-out notice for coconut-climbers or peep out of the window every half-a-second to see if this very important person is passing by. My coconut-climber is very tricky. We  have only about 5 coconut trees and 5 palm trees in our compound. Whenever, I see him appear on the road,I have to call him in because he would  not climb more than two trees on a single visit and I would have to pay him a handsome amount on every visit. Each time he would say there are bees high up there that sting him. So as soon as I spotted him I clapped my hands and beckoned him. He came and to my surprise agreed to climb a coconut  tree and a palm tree with full of arecanuts.  Fortunately,he was only on his way to the toddy shop and had not consumed it, for the palm trunk was too thin and dancing in the wind - if he fell from it......I can't imagine what would happen.....However, I gained confidence because he was in his senses, although in his sixties-moreover arecanuts have a good market value these days. All these factors prompted me to call him , although it was about to be 9 O' clock. and we were supposed to leave by ten.
             Another mystery had also happened last week--All of a sudden one of the taps in my bathroom found a better place in my hand rather than on the bathroom wall. I jumped away to escape from the attack of the rushing water. Here also I showed some courage to fight back and had put  the tap in its place , although in a very insecure way. My husband is a good mechanic, although he is an executive in a finance company. He says he loves to repair taps - but like most husbands, did not find time for it, for the last one week. A lot of water was leaking along the wall from the pipe and every time I touched it, it seemed to say,"I'll drench you"! My patience had crossed all limits . I had called a plumber and told him to make his appearance before 9.30 a.m. He had agreed. But he reached only by ten. He frowned at the tap for being worn out and thus his prescription ran- "change the tap". He asked me for Rs. 50/- and went to the nearby shop. He returned with a cute green plastic tap and some tape. Replacing a tap is a matter of 5 minutes . But to show that he was inventing some new method of replacing it, he took about 20 to 30 minutes to finish the work.  Again I was getting late to go to the hospital.
              At last we were ready and  my son went a little ahead of me to recharge my phone and  I was a little behind.  Suddenly, I spotted the Parur bus and started heading for it, because it was already at the bus-stop. My son was already at the bus-stop waiting for me to reach. There were quite some people to board the bus  and I  managed to reach near the door only to hear the 'kili' put a double bell and the bus moved forward without taking me in. Then an Ernakulam bus came and we got down at Cherai .From  Cherai we got a bus to Parur and yet another bus from Parur took us to Angamaly via. Manjali. Fortunately I had a good nap in the bus from Parur to Angamaly.
                On my return journey my eyes were wide open to enjoy the bus ride. But the main thi ng I learned during this ride was to pray  because my life was in the hands of the driver, who was driving it like my son playing a computer car game. However,  I noticed that the people around me were quite cool.  They seemed to be confident about reaching home safely. But  I took out my rosary and started praying , as the bus was rocketing down the road. Thanks for the bus stops and the people waiting for the bus that forced the driver to put a brake and stop the bus.
                 At this point, I remember an incident, that happened in last . I was traveling from Palliport to Cherthala, to attend the mass on my father's 15th death anniversary. I was in a KSRTC bus that was heading to Thiruvananthapuram from Kodungallur. A young lady was seated beside me. She seemed to be very restless. She  was murmuring something. I inquired what the matter was. She said that the bus used to reach Ernakulam from Kodungallur within half-an-hour , but then it had reached only Njarackal. She was cursing the new driver who was not driving fast enough for her.
                  So, I think, the working class of people really enjoy their journey in a speeding bus for three reasons- one, they can reach office on time even if they start late.Secondly, they can be back home to see their little ones faces and their partner's smile as early as possible,engage in their daily chores and  hobbies at the earliest possible time. Thirdly, these buses ply at every nook and corner of our state and provide an affordable means of transportation for the common man. Only occasional passengers like me complain about over-speeding. So, I must be the odd man out.!!