I flagged the bus, got in, tapped my card on the reader and looked around for an empty seat. There it was, right at the back. I grabbed a pole immediately to steady myself and started making my way towards the empty seat. Very very slowly. Suddenly I had the strange realisation that there actually was no need to grab the pole. Or even to walk that slowly. The bus wasn't budging. At all. Maybe someone else had flagged it? I turned around, but there was no one. The front door had been closed.
And that's when I noticed it. The driver was looking at me in his rear view mirror. The bus was still stationary. What had I done? Was he going to holler, "Excuse me, you didn't tap your card!"? No, I was positive I had tapped my card. What was it then? Had I dropped something? No. Was there another vehicle in front of the bus? No.
Oh wait, had the bus broken down? I got on the bus and it broke down? I looked around guiltily at the people around me. Strangely, they did not seem to be annoyed or even curious about the stalled bus.
I turned around again and the driver still seemed to be following my movements in the mirror. "All right, what is it???? Move already!!!" I wanted to yell. But by then, I had already reached my seat.
The moment I sat down, the driver started the bus.
And that's when it hit me. He was waiting for me to get to my seat before he started the bus. He didn't want me to be jolted off my feet and fall flat on the bus floor.
Inertia.
And that's why no one on the bus was wondering why the bus wasn't moving. They had all been treated with the same care.
Among all the reasons for the stalling of the bus that had crossed my mind, this one just... wasn't there. The guy was just being nice.
To me, that was the real jolt.
I raised my hand to thank the driver and he smiled in the mirror and nodded an acknowledgement.
Inertia. Resistance to a change in state. Maybe all of us need a little dose of such incidents. To open up our minds a little more and get rid of the inertia that has made us thus.
Cynical by default.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Start over
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31 comments:
amazing isn't it!
Sure we all need a little jolt from time to time...inertia and friction do go hand in hand and the human mind has got used to both...sometimes the friction also gets rid of the inertia...
Oh n GOLD :D
bhai, this is india or singapore..
singapore i guess..
and yes, silver!!!
If only the bus drivers back in Delhi would do the same thing... they don't even stop the bus completely to let us clamber on, forget waiting for us to get a seat!
i wish a day should come when the DTC drivers are that considerate
hiee... i think thts indeed very sweet of the driver!
trust me, wen i was in France, I(even the French)was never treated this politely!
so caring, india may toh, giro padho, bus toh chalti hi rehti hai, cute
take care and keep writing.............
Wow..how sweet of the driver!
I remember once i just couldnt hold on to the pole in a moving bus in Hyderabad..i actually sat down near the driver..seeing my plight,the conductor asked some girls to share their seat with me..LOL..that was the last time i travelled by bus in hyd!
Bronze!! :P :D
totally cool!!
Makes us think... :)
What a post! Bhai .. aapke hathon mein jaadoo hai!
Its true tht we react like this whenever help/care/kindness comes from unexpected fronts..
We should remind ourselves that.. "Duniya mein abhi bhi acchaii hai.." Cheers to that! :))
wow that gesture is really nice and commendable and followable..rite??
i wish the buses i board has such drivers.
Wow, that's called caring.
loved the way you have put the whole incident. I could actually visualize whole scene.... Arrr but it would have helped if I knew what were you wearing, for a bit more perfect visualization ;)
Hello m new here... just a few posts old. love the blog. it has the makes-one-read-every-post ability. kudos :)
Fabulous.
Great moment.
i was thinking he was checkin you out
That sure must've felt nice =) The bus drivers here only do that for the elderly or disabled, although I suppose they've got a schedule to keep to!
Great post anyway (and hello from Google reader popular items)
Bhaaai! Did you know that around 400+ people have liked this post via google reader? Awesome, nahi? :)
nice - as usual!
#Bivas,
Hey dude long time no see! :)
#Sanchit,
Singapore, yes. :)
#Iddy,
Hahahaha! :P :P
#Abhishek,
It will happen some day, I'm sure. :)
#Divya,
:)
#Thousif,
//so caring, india may toh, giro padho, bus toh chalti hi rehti hai, cute
Hahahahaha! :D
#Sanket,
:P
#How do we know,
:)
#Kanan,
Yeah, totally! I think I was nice(r) to people that entire week because of this incident!!
#Manasi,
Thank you! :)
#rt,
Yeah, it's inspiring. Makes me want to be nicer too. :)
#~Lopa,
Thanks! :) Hehehe... I can't remember what I was wearing, but something office-y. :)
#Shezaad,
Hi, welcome! Thanks for the compliment. :)
#Michelle,
Thanks. :)
#Erika,
It was indeed. :)
#perry,
Hahahahaha! For a second I did too. Only for a second though! :P
#Bharat,
Thank you! :)
#Jass,
Whoa! Really? Thank you for the good news yaar! :)
#Lady Hope,
Thanks. :)
PS: Long time no see!!
the driver likes you, hehehe
I've seen bus captains doing that for pregnant ladies n old folks
Hmmmm so which category you fall in ?? ;-)
#Shiben,
Sheesh!!
#parikrama,
I fall in neither category, thank you very much. He was doing that for everyone.
Excellent post.
Really liked the use of the word -inertia reminded me of this famous law, lets see if if I still remember it -
Every body continues to stay in a state of rest or uniform restilinear motion unless compelled by an external force to change that state. Wohoo!!! I still got it.
It's so interesting how positive incidents in our lives affect our moods and make us act... thanks for sharing this one. :)
That is coz we are so used to people being insensitive!! we actually forget that there are people who indeed care. People not related to us. Strangers. They are at times kinder than those we wish were.
Happened to me too, first bus ride in NZ :)
Sayesha ma'am, I simply love this post!!! :) You just brigtened up my morning :-)
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