The bus ride

Today was my first day in college. I was all excited to go, woke up late as usual but was ready in time. I usually catch a bus to go to college and catch it from bandra stn.
I reached the depot and I slowly proceeded towards the bus, people everywhere all that noise, I got a sudden jolt of terror I could feel the Goosebumps now, I could visualize the fear the noise and pain that must have happened on all those 7 stations on 7/11.

I got into the bus all the seats were occupied and there were people standing besides the seats, somehow I managed to get some place to stand. It was hot and the sun was bright must have been the regular 32 0c but it just didn’t seem to be the same anymore; all these regular people looked like zombies to me. I was a lady looking in my direction so I smiled but then she was starting into blank space. None spoke ,none laughed, all had just one expression on them, could be of fear, a fear of losing their loved one, a fear to have witnessed the entire tragedy, or just the fear of entering into this unprotected bus.
Like me they must believe in fate too I said to myself. The driver and the conductor reluctantly got into the bus. As the conductor started giving out the tickets the driver started the bus. We moved on.

The bus came to a sudden halt which made a lady’s purse fall I picked it up and gave it to her with many thoughts running in my mind like should I touch the bag, what must be inside it, is she hiding it somewhere. I focused my attention on the road but my subconscious mind was still on the bag, thinking if those people would have been alert enough, if just one of them could keep his eyes open and have paid attention to why the man with a bag jumped out without it. So many questions with so little time.
I finally got to sit at a ladies seat half way through the journey. I noticed the girl beside me; she was draped with a scarf around her face. This was a cultural difference that existed between me and her but my fearful brain dropped in various questions again.
And they were can she be trusted, why is she clutching her bag pack that hard, is she a student just like me then what has she learnt. This happens when one fears death and wants to protect oneself so bad that forgets his own fellow men. I apologized to her from within and looked ahead I saw that my stop was now close by, it was time to say goodbye.
I got down and looked back at the bus, nothing had changed although people had left and new people had come they all had the very same look on their face.

The look of being unsafe……
Sneha Gokarn.