I was on a
bus to the nearby town of Sholingur. The bus was approaching a busy T-junction. The road was wide enough to
accommodate two buses going side by side, with just a few inches between them. Drivers
here are quite adept at calculating their safe margin.
As we were
getting closer to the T, our bus had to pass another one waiting on the other
side. The observant driver spotted an arm jutting out from the other bus that
would hinder his manoeuvres. This was the right arm of a young girl, probably
in her mid-teens, who had fallen sleep during the bus ride.
My anxiety
was growing as our bus was getting closer. But the driver, maintaining a “safe distance”, applied the brake, extended
his arm out the window and casually tapped that protruding arm. That must have scared
the girl out of her wits. She reflexively pulled her arm in letting our bus
pass comfortably. Releasing the brake, our bus driver moved on as if this was nothing to write home about!
***
We were in
Dev’s hometown Agra, visiting his relatives. Agra is a small town that is full
of people and traffic jams. The ever-crowded bazaars have pedestrians, cycles, horse-drawn
carts, manual- rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, flat-bed-rickshaws, small trucks and of course cars. Sometimes, one can
find a herd of buffaloes too!
Typically
men in this town chew tobacco when they are not eating or sleeping. So, invariably
they can be seen spitting out a red liquid every once in a while. I have always
been nervous of the moment when someone would accidentally spit on me, since
the probability of that happening seemed high.
On a busy
market day, I was walking the bazaar street and was about to pass a person who
had already initiated the process of spitting. It is easy guess that by the way
their bodies bend a little forward, ready to launch with a full mouth. I had no
way of stepping back or forward or sideways without getting spat on. There I
was, facing my nightmare! I shrieked, “bhaiya!
Stop!” The interrupted spitter was taken aback and he looked up. I grabbed the opportunity
and quickly went ahead by just a few steps gesturing to him to wait till I go past him. With his mouth still full, he gestured to me
saying that I can go. Once I was at a safe distance I saw him spat. I thanked
him for having waited for me and asked him to look before he leaps the next
time. His smile was priceless.
-- Hema
