Hustle 'BUS'tle

Mornings.... the busiest part of the day.. Every morning has a similar routine to follow but is yet so different from one another. My mornings are dominated by my bus commute to office. Sounds boring, exhausting I know but it's actually not as bad as it sounds! I change a bus in majestic so here is a brief description of how it is....

'Majestic' Bus Stand is the place where hustle bustle resides. People are so busy running after their buses that they hardly are aware of anything else around them which is also the case with me. I get so engrossed in walking my way past people and squeezing through the crowd, looking into my watch again and again realising how late I am, that I doubt I would even notice my best friend walk past me. Rushing through the crowd, I crane my neck to look at my platform hopeful that the bus is already there, I look closer to see if the bus is full and if I spot an empty bus, a smile instantly appears on my face and spotting a Volvo bus at my platform is like a winning a Jackpot!

There are times when I have to wait for the bus. At such times I take a quick look around me to see if there is a huge crowd waiting for the bus (just to know what are my chances of getting a seat) and what else do I notice? Different...very different people. Some very normal, some wearing 'jhing-chak' shirts, some tightest of tight pants and some who behave like they have come down from an island where the female gender is non existent!

When the bus arrives there is a mad mad rush to get into the bus and here is something very amusing - the last person getting down from the bus, trying so hard to get down but being pushed back into the bus with all might by the crowd trying to get into the bus. Sad for this last person. Always make it a point not to be the last one getting down the bus. Anyway, Getting a seat in such a situation is like a feast but believe me letting go your seat for an old grandma is a bigger feast (totally makes your day, trust me)

Okay, when the bus finally moves (after making sure there is no inch of it left unoccupied) then it is when everyone starts with their style of commuting. Some of them instantly sleep (wonder how?) Some quickly fumble for their earphones and start listening to music. Some look out of the window and get lost in thoughts or perhaps just day dream (I do this at times). Some immediately start talking over the phone filtering all the noise pollution around....and some start reading, the category which I belong to. After a couple of mins, I start reading without a care of how noisy the bus is or which aunty is stamping my foot.
Then I find some curious people almost falling on me and trying to peep and find out what I am reading (all book lovers I bet). Honestly speaking even I play the 'curious cat' when i find someone reading because it's so much fun getting to know of a new book then finding out if it's a good one and then trying to get hold of the book :)

When we travel at the same time, to the same route every single day there are people we get acquainted with. It's the same with me, there are some I befriended while waiting for a bus, some I would have seen a million times but who ignore, some who I would have seen just a couple of times but still give a smile that says 'oh! yeah.. I have seen you before'

Before I realise, I'll have to close my book and get down at my stop...this is my bus commute...not bad at all, isn't it?

Hmmm.... So this is about the hustle bustle that I experience every morning.. What are your mornings like?

“The” Solar Eclipse – 15th Jan ‘2010

Well, it started as just another day but with a little more excitement as it was a Friday and yeah there was also some solar eclipse supposedly the ‘longest one’ of the millennium going to happen but that dint really make much of a difference to me. I was in my cubicle working when Shilpa (popularly known as Shil :P) came to my cubicle and said “Dee let’s go and watch the solar eclipse”, I don’t know why but this came as a big surprise to me. I stared at her in astonishment without uttering a word as if she had just asked me to go and see some extinct species like a dinosaur or a mammoth. Anyway I think I sort of ignored that and said “come let’s go” and by that I only meant let’s go out of my floor. Meanwhile we decided to meet Nisha (popularly known as Nish :P). We headed towards Nish’s cubicle and when she saw us she us a million dollar smile like we had just arrived at the right minute to rescue her from the prison (perhaps most of you have associated prison and office to be synonyms already! :P)

Anyway the three of us went out all happy for no other better reason than just going out. We went to our ‘adda’ and were chatting when Shil again mentioned about the solar eclipse and this time is was Nish’s turn to look shocked. I wonder what Shil thought of our reactions. After sometime, Nish and me gave Shil this “Are you serious?!!” look and she said she’s been watching the eclipses whenever it happened ever since she was a kid and here were we (Nish and me) blinking big time as we were caught by the hearsay that we shouldn’t see the solar eclipse at all, we thought we can only see it through some fundu telescope or something (Don’t laugh at our ignorance! ;):P) Then Shil enlightened us about the whole thing and asked us to join her watch the eclipse. Nish and I readily agreed. We were really really excited about witnessing our 1st solar eclipse not on TV but live in action looking straight into the sun.

The plan was to go and get food parceled and rush to Shil’s place to watch the complete action involving a star, a satellite and a planet which led to a beautiful phenomenon called the eclipse and we hurried to some hotels close by, only to find out they were all closed, thanks to Mr. Eclipse. We decided to chuck the food plan and left for Shil’s place. We found the roads free of traffic. It was an unusual sight in Bangalore, almost looked like there was a curfew. Roads free of traffic is something I really fancy (result of being trapped in traffic every other day. Totally envy people who stay close by!). We reached her place and each one of us grabbed the solar eclipse ka special glasses (sorry don’t know the exact term for it :P). Nish and me, being novices in this, wondered how we could see through an opaque thing like that (Did u laugh again??). Aunty (Shil’s mom) called me and showed me the sun through those glasses and I was so excited that I started jumping and shouting “I can see it”, “I can see it” over and over again. I hope I dint wake up her neighbours from their afternoon nap. Wonder what Aunty thought. I am sure she would have given me the “What’s wrong with you?” look but I dint happen to see that :P I was really elated after getting the 1st glimpse of the eclipse.

To get a better view the three of us ran up to the terrace. All of us stood there looking at the sun. It was spectacular. We were awestruck by the sight. The sun looked so sober not like it’s usual self yet so powerful. It almost looked like a crescent moon much brighter though. I gave a break to my stare at the sun to look around and found that the atmosphere had really changed. It dint look like it was 1:00 pm in the afternoon, it wasn’t sunny, it almost looked like it was evening or as if I was seeing through a tinted glass. It was lovely! We continued to stare at the sun. All the us were ecstatic and we exclaimed “WOW” all the time in quick succession one after the other and sometimes even together in chorus! :D We could actually figure out the changes occurring in the crescent shape and we would scream that out to each other. We sat there at the terrace for really long witnessing the longest eclipse to our heart’s content. It was an amazing experience, totally out of this world. I am really glad that we dint miss it out.

This may seem ordinary to some but for me it was really special. Hmmm… It was a day that I will always remember and a sight that I will never forget!! :D *smiling away to glory*