From College Bus to School Bus— A Metamorphosis!!!!

From College Bus to School Bus— A Metamorphosis!!!!

Life is a journey; we use multiple conveyances to reach the unreachable destination... Sometimes we drive; sometimes we ride; sometimes we hitchhike; sometimes we simply wait for the apt person to take us along. 

Having been a part of all these diverse sorts of conveyances, I have had the pleasure of all of them— feeling the cool breeze or the refreshing rays of sun on the body while cycling; being engaged in brawls to get the front seat in the auto and hooting the horn all the way home... What a sense of pride in being an assistant to the"Automan"? 

Of all these the college bus days are the most carefree and memorable. where I used to bunk classes recklessly, just because I couldn't board the bus on time. I still remember the bus driver waiting five minutes straight with a smiling face for the students without showing the slightest of irritation and getting our pendrives filled to the capacity with the then recent kollywood sometimes even Bollywood songs.

By then I never fancied window seats.  Keeping my duffle bag on someone's laps, I would go on socializing and singing along with the songs being played. I hardly remember the old me, ever turned tired even after standing all the way to college.

Those days were different... I would do everything under the sun but never would I close my eyes, let alone sleeping like a logwood on the bus.

But today.. I am a teacher myself. No longer a student; no more flaking out or bunking; just being on time. Every little thing has started making sense. 

Especially the plights of our school bus driver. He is entirely different from our jovial, easy-go-lucky college bus driver. This driver is pathetic. He is a troubled gentleman in his late thirties. He starts his days cheerfully. His life's journey is dependent on the day to day journey to school, driving school bus.

The roads have more bumps and pits than his very life has. What an ordeal it is to drive a bus in our area which is nothing less than an entangled maze. 

You go fast, you will be branded as a reckless driver; you go slow, you will invite tauntings from the fellow drivers for blocking the pathway.

Despite all these limitations, this driver keeps a smiling face, an amiable one. Route no. 48!!!, our bus. It has got its own reputation among the fellow teachers. Even if we reach school earlier there are dramatic sighs and leering statements... "Oh the snailpaced route no. 48 has come!!!" Reason is our driver. He never rushes he takes his time to drive. Perhaps on a power saving mode. He never urges. Gives time; waits and cares for everyone. 

All these people let me realise that ultimately our lives are peppered with all these conveyances and drivers who are breathtakingly diverse and interesting. They are the tiniest components that make our lives' journeys, all the way memorable.