The middle aged man...

Monday: 08-12-2008, 5:30 pm
It may sound weird but it is true. I have been living on my own for the past four years, but I have not travelled in a bus alone ever. It is not to say that I have not travelled alone. In fact I have travelled alone to quite a few cities of India. It is just that I abhor buses and give every possible argument to avoid a bus ride. In Delhi I frequented places where the metro went and used an auto rickshaw for the places metro did not cover.
Mumbai is somewhat different. You either use the crowded local trains or take up buses. My bus ride from Chennai to Puducherry has emboldened me to use a bus for going to Worli. Why do I go to Worli is a different story altogether but the first day I had to go there I took a bus with a classmate of mine. Dadar I believe would be to Mumbai what old Delhi is to Delhi..it would give you the feeling of yesteryears and yet is the business hub of the city. The traffic is terrible if I may use a mild word to describe it. In the evening my friend had to go somewhere else so I was to come back alone. I walked a couple of bus stops from passport office to Prabha Devi just to get a hang of the area. I had to take a 521 to come back to my home. At Prabha Devi I kept waiting for the bus. I had problems reading the devnagiri script in which the bus numbers are written. In fact I missed a 521 because of my delayed response to the script.
I just noticed a man standing on the stop reading a newspaper. Yes, he is the protagonist of my account. He must have been around 40 or more. I casually asked him the frequency of 521. It usually came every 20 minutes or so..but alas it didn’t come for the next 40 minutes. I had nit waited on a bus stop alone ever. It gave me a queer feeling. A bus came and the man told me to board it as it would take me to Chembur from where I could catch another bus and reach my home. I trusted him and boarded the bus. Even he boarded the same bus. I got a place to sit at Dadar station. A couple of stops later the seat next to me got vacated and he came and sat next to me. A conversation ensued and I got to know that he had to go to Navi Mumbai. Like perfect strangers we discussed politics, education, Marathi..blah..blah..
By that time I had already grown suspicious of his movements. My mom had asked me to beware of men who are 18 and who are 40. Sticking to her advice I began to find him quite weird. I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. After getting stuck in traffic for about an hour and half, the finally reached the stop from where I had to change. I was happy because now I got hire an auto rickshaw and go my own way.
But the miseries of the day had not ended. The man got down from the bus with me and decided to help me hire an auto rickshaw. None of the auto walas agreed..and I was stuck with the man..we walked a couple of bus stops ahead from where we got on to another bus.
By now I grew conscious of every movement he made. Every time the bus would brake of turn I would pull myself away from him. Was it the bus movement which made him lean on me at times or was he doing it deliberately..I have no clue. My final destination came and I got off..and the man got off..he stood and the bus stop and in a matter of fact said, “bye”. All I could do was to smile back and say goodbye.
In retrospect I must agree I would not have been able to take my maiden bus trip had it not been for him…but that day..I could stop stop wondering what was going on in his mind. Maybe he was genuinely trying to help me…or maybe he was a pervert…I have no inkling of what was he thinking…
I think the society has conditioned we women not to trust anyone..he might just be looking for an “opportunity”. May be I was right in doubting him..maybe I was wrong..but then god saves the person who is genuinely trying to help…Amidst all this I must say..hats off to Mumbai..this city is really capable of teasing your logic of existence and then subtly smiling at you to tell you that humanity still exists….Zara hat ke..zara bachch ke…ye hai Mumbai meri jaan‼‼‼‼‼