On board

I had not been an active sportsperson in my school days. But after entering college, I have been a regular trainee of short sprints early in the morning. I undertake the training dressed not in sportswear but in formal salwars and sandals, with a bag slung across my shoulders. The race I thus take part in daily is to get into a bus that takes a direct route to college and that in which I can also be comfortably seated to spend the following forty minutes listening to songs or reading.

Having studied in a school that was hardly a kilometer away from my house, I was used to being independent and leaving home at any desired time. The concept of having to stick to a schedule that was not my own did irk me in the beginning, but as they say, Human beings are creatures of habit who can get used to an amazing variety of things in life over a period of time and daily bus travel happens to be one of those.

The very first day that I got introduced to a drafter in Engineering Graphics, I had to travel in s11 which is perpetually crowded. The Assurance “Crash-Proof” on the drafter’s cover did not convince me. The gladness I experienced that day when an understanding Engineering graduate held my drafter was of such a magnitude that it still brings a fractional relief to my heart. I was introduced to many harsh realities in the town buses. For instance, the myth in my mind that women were always delicate beings who could not utter rude words in public was shattered. I came across a completely shocking new vocabulary of swear words (thankfully I have not been at the receiving end of any of those, due to the innocent look I can easily conjure up in my face).  After several instances of being squeezed like an inanimate being, stamped upon and even leaned on by people much heavier than me, I got used to the experience of travelling by buses, sometimes even on the foot-board which gives the thrills and chills, provided you are the only one on the board.


Nowadays I can boldly get into crowded buses and push my way through the crowd and travel with the optimum achievable comfort. It is something that comes through sheer practice which helps develop immunity. Bus travel is an experience that should not be missed during this prime of our youth, as I strongly believe that it makes bold individuals out of us, teaching us that life is not a bed of roses and that our journeys in life are not always smooth ones, but those that actually test us and nourish us with the much-needed experience, both good and bad.  

-Shilpa Suresh( III B.E. ECE)