Only In India (most probably)

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