I
was travelling home from the city today…On the rare occasion of getting a
window seat…I was enjoying the view of the familiar roads… suddenly the bus
came to a stop at head post office…I was suddenly thrown back two years…back to
the days when I used to go for engineering entrance coaching..images of my
friends (who all live in the same area) running like they are in an Olympic
race when the sole bus that goes to their area comes..leaving me behind..Waving
as their bus passes me by…
I
remember rushing to catch a bus on a day where they let us go late…the sky was
darkening and the shadows were falling…it was exciting to be out at such an
hour..(now its commonplace..:P).
The
bus moved and I bade a silent farewell to that phase of my life…
Next,
the memories of an even earlier period of life came rushing back when the bus
came to a halt at Nadakkavu bus stop… this bus stop witnessed my comings and
goings to and from my (not so necessary) science tuition class (I just went
because my friends went)….in 10th and my early basketball coaching
days always ended in this particular bus stop (We used to go to another school
for coaching)… even before that this bus stop came to my life…when my mother
used to take me to swimming classes (ahem!..i think I will survive if put into a
river..but it is doubtful..i was not very good at it..and one day I almost
drowned..making me forever apprehensive about my ability to swim)…
I
distinctly remember the lottery ticket seller’s speaker cackling out a list of
lotteries for the week. In fact, this bus stop had inspired me to write one of
my first articles..’The college bus ride’.
Well,
the bus driver finally decided to stop waiting for non-existent passengers and
began driving again.
Soon
enough, the bus came to a stop at Eranjipalam…one of the places which has
changed beyond recognition in a decade.. big trees cut down…tall buildings came
up..its a whole development aspect..(sadly)
This
was the bus stop I saw daily..on my way to school…and in earlier days my
friend’s house used to be near this very stop…it was special for one more
reason…it was the first bus stop I was allowed to travel to alone…you know first
step towards independence..:)..
It
seemed like the bus stop had moved on..just like my friend had.. but I cannot
deny a certain kinship I still feel towards Eranjipalam.
The
bus moved forward as the signal turned green…taking me to my earliest bus
memories…frankly it was a fiasco..a whole situation where my mother came late
to get me and I was taken away with the huge yellow school bus..(I went all
around the city..taking in the view happily…not at all giving away that i am
lost…only to return to the school where finally my paranoid mother found me
eating a cupcake that a sympathetic teacher had bought me)..I was in 1st
standard and the stop that I missed was civil station.
The
bus was on its way again..
Pachakil….an
acquired surname of a friend who had a very common name and lived in that
area….many many memories…mostly of getting down there as she is always late…
the bus stop where I got down to walk a long way to my Maths tuition class…my
first ever tuition class…I joined there in 9th.(.as I was clueless in
maths as I had missed classes for a month due to chicken pox.)
And
last buss not the least…my Chevarambalam…my home for the last 13 years…the
place which saw me through my childhood and teenage.. to which I bade a
temporary goodbye when I left for college…knowing I will always be back…J
Without
my realizing…these bus stops have become an inseparable part of my life..a part
of the stories that I share…the life which was once mine..now no longer…Symbols
of happy and sad times of my life… witnesses to successes and disappointments I
felt…
I
shook my head and revived myself from the reverie and also due to the stares I
could feel from my co-passengers…( who wouldn't..if a person is smiling from
ear to ear..looking outside..at an undefined spot)..
I
got down and waved at the familiar cleaner in the bus…before walking home…J
