A journey of 20 miles

It was a pleasant evening on a  Saturday in the early days of 2011, back from college, tired after a grueling session of Artificial Intelligence when I started my journey of 20 miles. At first, it was nothing different to me for every weekend I used to go there, travel 20 miles for the GRE classes which lasted hardly for 2 months. But that particular day, I was into the thinking mode, some serious thinking I must say. I had to take a bus to reach the venue. So, I boarded one at my stop and it was totally free for you could count the number of people sitting. With all happiness of securing a window seat (yep, crazy thing, i know :D) I began staring out the window still deep into my thoughts.

Bus stop 1:  There was traffic as it was the office-leaving-time. So i realized that the bus had come to a halt few meters before the regular stop. A lady came running to board the bus with a baby, must have been 1 yr old. She sat in the front with the baby facing me. Me, still in the thinking mode thought how good would it be if i was still like her (yes, a baby girl :) ). She was giggling and chuckling when people waved at her. In all smiles, I could see she was enjoying the ride though the bus moved as fast as a snail. Unaware of the big world that would ambush her later, she was now happy,  just happy for no reason at all.

Bus stop 2: I heard school kids board the bus who were yammering at the top of their voice. Interrupting my thoughts, a girl politely asked me " Can I sit here? ". With a wide smile I replied " Sure do. " They were around 15 in all, say std 8, discussing about their upcoming monthly tests. I thought, well yeah, these guys  better than us but later on, uff !! they were deciding on who-should-read-what so that the answer scripts could be passed during the exams :D Nevertheless, even after a whole day at school these kids were full of life, no tension, no pressure something which I couldn't afford to be that instant.

Bus stop 3:  Few of the kids got down with others shouting " Bye da, andha question padichidu..bye bye..! " thus leaving way for a few college goers to board. They stood beside me and I heard them discussing about Kiran Rao's directorial debut- Dhobi Ghat.  That seemed a little interesting to me. Their conversations drifted from Kiran Rao to Aamir Khan and finally landed up with some college gossip of theirs. Here I could sense a bit of jealousy they shared over some mutual friend but then it was not very convivial to be heard so I went back to my thinking mode.

Bus stop 4: I noticed the lady with the baby get down. So just waved my hand and the baby smiled in return (felt so good). The seat was occupied by some woman, in her late 20'sIi suppose. She was talking over phone " Andha noodles packet vechirkaen, cook and eat. I'll be back in another 30 mins blah.. blah.. blah.". So I thought, a working woman and her responsibilities, indeed a tough job to balance both her personal and professional lives. She was in some hurry, could sense her restlessness. At last, somebody who seemed to be pre-occupied.

Bus stop 5: The college goers got down and I remember 2 middle-aged women boarding. They gave me a bag to hold and I stared at them as if they were aliens, dont know why, but yea, I did. I got to hear one more conversation, it was about the shooting gold prices. Hmm, sovereigns, making charges, wastage, designs, GRT, Prince jewellery was all that I heard. One lady pointed to the rings of the girl sitting beside  me and said " Idhae dhaan, 6000 romba costly" for which the other lady replied " Yes, yes, adhu  too costly" ha ha, for a second I thought, typical chennai tanglish aunties :D.

Bus stop 6: Realized I had to get down in the next stop and so I got up leaving the place to an old lady who had just then boarded. For the next 2 mins I kept looking at her. Old but some kind of satisfaction on her face probably bacause she had kids who were all happily settled. Serene, peaceful, calm or whatever you call it to be. I had to get down so waded through the manageable crowd (the bus had filled up) and stood near the exit doorway.

Bus stop 7: Got down. A 5 minute walk to my class. Went back to the thinking mode but this time not about me, it was about the bus journey I had. So peculiar, right from the start till I got down, happened to meet people who were at various stages of life in the ascending order.

Each person wanted something and all I found was that it was only during the initial stages and far later that people seem to be contended ( The baby and the old lady). Till then life is indeed a struggle, a test that has to be passed no matter how much you try to evade.  The way you carry yourself during the phase of hardships will ascertain how your life will turn out to be. Yes, I was in the thinking mode, thinking about my future, what next ? Higher education or employment.. GATE or GRE or work experience+MBA..all the hullabo of a regular student who enters into the final year of college life. This journey made me ponder on what exactly I wanted in life as I'd just witnessed different people were after different things in life.

With all these thoughts, I entered the class, greeting all my pals and settling down with a thought, yes, it is GRE. No more confusion and today am writing this with admission letters of various universities in my shelf.  No more befuddling, CMU is my destination. I shall work whatever it takes and do justice to this wonderful opportunity that's given to me. God has been grateful !! Thank you :)