The bus rumbles on,
it is an over crowded one -
not an unusual sight -
she stands in the space
reserved for women,
there's hardly any room
to breathe.
The broadcaster on radio
shows off her gift of the gab,
a popular film song follows;
a gush of wind
through the window
brings along smoke, dust
and other such components
of 'city-air'.
She looks out to see
impressive malls,
entrances to which, witness
beggars pursuing well dressed gentry,
in the hope of a penny or two;
billboards advertise
latest discount offers
appealing to her consumerist instincts;
constant honking of vehicles,
music blaring from an auto nearby -
these are common sounds
she is accustomed to.
The bus halts with a jolt,
she steps down,
tries to make her way,
through the crowd
avoiding hawkers lunging at her
from every side,
eager to make sales;
the smell of
pakodas fills the air,
autos carrying seven or eight passengers
limp away, surreptitiously,
at the sight of khaki clad men.
Out of the blue,
an elbow knocks into her chest,
she turns to look at the lout -
lecherous eyes mock at her impotent fury -
she mouths standard abuses,
walks away as if unruffled.
For this was not the first instance,
"Won't be the last either.",
she thinks at the back of her mind,
her heart chooses not to agree though.
She moves on,
pushing, shoving, cursing
her way through
'Battleground India'.
If you're wondering why I've written about life in an underground rail, let me clarify, metropolitan cities in India are commonly referred to as 'metros'.
Over crowded buses, autos are not an unusual sight in India, thanks to the 1.21 billion of us. The front part of buses is reserved for women (though some men choose to be ignorant about it) in some cities in India (in Hyderabad, for instance). Some buses and autos have radios. "Khaki clad men" refers to policemen, policemen in India wear khaki uniforms. According to law, an auto can seat only four adults or six children, but it is broken everyday, I will be honest and admit that I'm part of this rule-breaking. And standard abuses would be the Telugu/Hindi translations of mother f*****, sister f***** and the like.
