Begining the journey

Time is ticking fast, breakfast half done and I am already hurrying on my way, thinking "Gosh! Hope I am not late!", at a distance I see the red machine, all bright and fresh, still dressed with Diwali decorations, indeed I am a little late, I start running, the driver recognises me and decides to wait for a few moments until I can climb on, "Yipee! Made it." I choose a comfortable seating and my fast track reads 0815 hrs, my eyes close (Late nights again, nah not partying but finishing some chores) as the engine roars. Eyes open, 0825 hrs on my fast track and I see the rags and slums of Pune....eyes close again and by 0840 hrs the sight in front of me was the lavish side of the city. This is just a very tiny part of how things unfold during my Pune's PMT ride. Also not to forget, keeping me entertained all the while are the various radio stations playing a spectrum of songs and even more interesting the advertisements and fillers.

Getting back on the journey, I see the few usual set of people and some who happen to hop into that route by chance. This group, who travel almost every day with me in that route, are people from different age groups, family back grounds, religions, castes but the one thing they all have in common, they all seem so happy to be there with each other. Obviously each one of them is heading for work. Some work to support their families, some because they still want to face challenges at their retirement age and some because they don't want to face the daily rut of family problems. Whatever be the reason, that bus ride gives them all a chance to forget who they are, why they are, what they do, why they do it and be what they want to be, why they want to be, do what they want to and all of this without any selfish reason. On second thoughts, maybe there is...to be happy.

They are like kids, making fun of people, each other, discussing serious matters and laughing on almost anything! What amazes me the most is that these people who otherwise could relate as father and daughter, brother and sister, basically people who would otherwise not connect and communicate as they do here, as if the generation gap all of a sudden seems to disappear. Looking at them there is only one thing I find myself pondering about, this is so simple, and this is exactly what life is - Simple! Recently I had read- "A poor guy is much better than a rich man because at least he doesn't PRETEND to be happy all the time. However he pretends to be unhappy all the time!"

Barriers can be broken; life can be so damn simple. No one needs to read books and stories to find out the secrets of life. Live your own stories. They are all around us; we just need to hear it. Every bus ride of mine since the past 2 years has been a story in itself and from now on, this is where I would like to share it with everybody.