I was standing in the bus while travelling from NIBM to Shaniwar Wada in Pune. And that’s a common picture. People those were able to find out any seat to sit in that crowded bus were exactly filling as if they have got prime minister’s chair or like sitting in a Ferrari and throwing a glance of proud towards poor people like me..!! So…I was standing in that queue and waiting for the last stop to come…I remembered someone had said that if you really want to understand this world (“Duniyadari”!) travel by a bus or local train for a week and you will get it!!!I was thinking that why it is so important to travel by any such public transport?...
Meanwhile one lady entered into the bus and was trying to find out any seat, within a moment she saw a man who was sitting on the seat reserved for women..She requested him but he just nodded his shoulders. And next moment our bus was dangled (!) by a high pitch”Hey, aren’t you able to read?? Come on stand up and let me sit there”. That man again ignored her and looked outside......now she was not ready to defeat...Keeping her tone louder she called the conductor and next 5/10 minutes that man and conductor quarreled and finally she got that seat…so my first conclusion was -
1) You will understand your rights (those might be known by you before but you will understand their meaning in a better and newer manner!) and you will get that spirit to fight for it (be it a very tiny matter).
2) You can also test yourself on negative side (if you are that man sitting on reserved seat!) that up to how much time you are able to fight for an unjustifiable thing.
Now, ticket conductor came to me for a ticket and I gave him a hundred rupees note he asked me for 3 rupees change, I was not having a single coin that time. He shouted at me “Give me a change otherwise take this note back”, I requested him but he was already angry due to that incident so he refused again…. Finally a lady standing behind me gave him 3 rupees...it was bit awkward but there was no option…..so again I concluded-
3) Always remember that where are you going and go with all necessities! (For example, if you are in a bank, always keep a pen (!) with you).
4) AND if you find someone who need help at such times…Do not hesitate to help that person!!!
Meanwhile, I got one window seat (ohhh….I am so lucky!)...Our bus was passing through one slummy area that time… very untidy, cluttered area it was…some young boys standing near Paan shop were unnecessarily interested to peep inside the windows (!) as if first time they saw that bus…some juice stalls I saw there..They were selling mango juice for 5 rupees (!)…how were they able to sold mango juice at such a low price? Anyway... kids were playing near gutter and no one was stopping them, but that was not their fault...no one was having time to pay attention towards these children as everybody was busy to earn his bread and butter…their priorities were different …health, cleanliness are the issues when you are not worried about your lunch or dinner!...this scene made me bit serious for a while...In this way I think we get connected to the actual picture of our country..(If I was driving my own vehicle that time, I know 100% that I would surely ignore these things)…
In the next lane, there was a famous temple in the city…everyone including me bowed for a second…and I looked towards that temple…there was huge crowd as usual…police men were on duty…I found it little bit funny… I thought God protects us…but it seems that here picture is reversed!!!
At the next bus stop one old lady entered into the bus, her face was full of wrinkles, she slowly walked on the steps, she just entered into the bus and person sitting on the first seat stood up and request her to sit their…
5) It’s not at all easy to leave your comfort and give it to any strange person and that too for the sake of age and humanity…I think any bus or local train are the best places to learn such lessons.
So within an half hour journey I came out with at least 5 conclusions…and now I am completely agree with that stranger that bus or train journey is really essential even if you have your own vehicle!
I know people who travelled everyday in buses or trains will laugh at me and call me a fool because of the inconvenience about blah blah things but still why we want to focus on negative side only???This attitude will surely make your daily up-down easy and you will easily find that you are more cautious than other people due to this travelling? Aren’t you?....
