He has been in chennai for more than a year now. Though he is long way away from his home, he had grown quite fond of his adopted home. One of the biggest challenges he faced daily was his commute from Koyambedu to Chrompet (The commute path for the benefit of the readers here). A stretch that is 17 km, usually takes something between 1 to 2 hours depending on the mood of the traffic. The travel in the bus was quite simple. Get in, get a ticket from the conductor and then go to sleep. Getting a seat was hardly a problem as his stop coincided with the start of the bus route. He knew the route like the back of his palm and could navigate with ease using the public transport.
He was very tired due to an ever increasing work load. He had been contemplating getting a motor bike to ease his commute. He nonchalantly entered the bus that was standing in the bus stand. He saw scores of people walking by. The average commute time was easily over a hour for a travelling professional. He could now rest in peace for the good part of next 2 hours. The bus was getting full and as it started, he saw the conductor navigating slowly through the crowd and coming towards him.
In order to help the conductor he wanted to keep the change ready for the tickets. As he counted the coins and to his surprise he had 2 full rupees short. For a moment he was stunned and confused and missed a stop where he could have got down. He conductor was close to him and quickly thought of a plan. " Bhaiya, 1 ticket Anna Nagar" he said confidently. The conductor looked at him with disappointment. In the local language Tamil, the conductor started saying, that the bus is not going in that direction and he is in the wrong one. He looked at the conductor confused. People who saw the incident unfold, began to explain to him in broken Hindi and English about what he should be doing. The conductor gestured him to get off and get the bus in the opposite direction. And obliged with a confused and a small smile unnoticed by others, he got down at Kasi theater.
Within minutes another fully packed bus arrived and took him. Since the conductor was in the front and it was already late he took his own sweet time to issue tickets to the passengers of the backside door. But he could not escape for a long time. He was asked for ticket after the second bus stop. Though he had enough money, he was high on the adrenaline and used his trick here too. "Before getting in, why don't you silly fellow see the bus number properly? Now the driver will stop at alandur bus depo. You can get down there." Shouting at him, the conductor moved to the next person. He was extremely happy for having covered a long distance without any ticket. When he got down from the bus, he heard someone sympathizing him in Tamil. "Poor boy! He has to go back all the way to get his bus now. He doesn't even know the language". Some one else helped him by telling the number of the bus, which would take him to his destination. He thanked him whole-heartedly for his kind gesture on him and walked away, with a painful smile.
By this time he had become very bold. As the next crowded bus came along, He consoled himself for becoming a liar and decided to have a complete free journey on that account. He remained at the back and wanted to get down as soon as he could. He was calm and was masking his nervousness enjoying the view from the footboard. He had a terrible shock when he saw the ticket checker waiting at the entrance, where he was supposed to get down. He showed the folded ticket which was used by him in the morning and disappeared as quickly as possible.
He could not believe his luck. Slowly guilt and pettiness started clouding him. He saw an old man sitting by the road side. He gave the old man the rest of the coins he had and started walking home.
He was very tired due to an ever increasing work load. He had been contemplating getting a motor bike to ease his commute. He nonchalantly entered the bus that was standing in the bus stand. He saw scores of people walking by. The average commute time was easily over a hour for a travelling professional. He could now rest in peace for the good part of next 2 hours. The bus was getting full and as it started, he saw the conductor navigating slowly through the crowd and coming towards him.
In order to help the conductor he wanted to keep the change ready for the tickets. As he counted the coins and to his surprise he had 2 full rupees short. For a moment he was stunned and confused and missed a stop where he could have got down. He conductor was close to him and quickly thought of a plan. " Bhaiya, 1 ticket Anna Nagar" he said confidently. The conductor looked at him with disappointment. In the local language Tamil, the conductor started saying, that the bus is not going in that direction and he is in the wrong one. He looked at the conductor confused. People who saw the incident unfold, began to explain to him in broken Hindi and English about what he should be doing. The conductor gestured him to get off and get the bus in the opposite direction. And obliged with a confused and a small smile unnoticed by others, he got down at Kasi theater.
Within minutes another fully packed bus arrived and took him. Since the conductor was in the front and it was already late he took his own sweet time to issue tickets to the passengers of the backside door. But he could not escape for a long time. He was asked for ticket after the second bus stop. Though he had enough money, he was high on the adrenaline and used his trick here too. "Before getting in, why don't you silly fellow see the bus number properly? Now the driver will stop at alandur bus depo. You can get down there." Shouting at him, the conductor moved to the next person. He was extremely happy for having covered a long distance without any ticket. When he got down from the bus, he heard someone sympathizing him in Tamil. "Poor boy! He has to go back all the way to get his bus now. He doesn't even know the language". Some one else helped him by telling the number of the bus, which would take him to his destination. He thanked him whole-heartedly for his kind gesture on him and walked away, with a painful smile.
By this time he had become very bold. As the next crowded bus came along, He consoled himself for becoming a liar and decided to have a complete free journey on that account. He remained at the back and wanted to get down as soon as he could. He was calm and was masking his nervousness enjoying the view from the footboard. He had a terrible shock when he saw the ticket checker waiting at the entrance, where he was supposed to get down. He showed the folded ticket which was used by him in the morning and disappeared as quickly as possible.
He could not believe his luck. Slowly guilt and pettiness started clouding him. He saw an old man sitting by the road side. He gave the old man the rest of the coins he had and started walking home.
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