Time stands still..

Anu boarded the KSRTC bus making its way to Hospet. It seemed like aeons since she had boarded a KSRTC bus. She hadnt been on a Greyhound, let alone KSRTC in many years. Of course, the comparison was obvious. She felt a tinge of guilt at the amount of years she had been away from her home country and town for that matter. As soon as she got in, her nostrils sensed a strong smell of dried-up urine. Some child must have peed and she felt the crush of peanut shells under her sandals. She made her way to the last vacant seat next to two others. The bus was full and she heaved a sigh of relief for having found one vacant seat. Not having recovered from jetlag and with her sinuses acting up, Anu had been sleeping fitfully for a week now.

She had decided at the last minute to go to Hospet. After all, she hadnt visited chikkamma in a long time. Hospet was always her favorite hangout as a child. The mango tree in chikamma's backyard was a treasure trove. She and her cousins had spent many fun-filled holidays just enjoying the shade of the tree and its fruits. Hospet was all about picnics to Hampi and the Tungabhadra dam. aaah! she reminisced. Those carefree childhood days. All about eating, playing, an occassional smattering of school and holidays and festivals. It all seemed so far away. Now, life was literally one big calendar . It was about deadlines, committments, personal duties, responsibilities- a mind game.

Anu was jolted out of her reverie by a push in her side. A huge lady with a basket filled with vegetables had boarded and decided she would make a 3-seater into a 4-seater at Anu's expense. "Swalpa adjust maadko" she commanded as she sat pushed Anu's thighs to make space for herself. Anu sighed and gave in. Its only a matter of some hours she reasoned with herself. As she struggled to revert to her reverie, the bus chortled into action. As it made its way through the bustling city(downtown?) streets, Anu took in the sheer magnitude of the sights. Street vendors, pedestrians, traffic, animals, shops-teaming with people and activity. She could hear snippets of random conversations.

As the bus stopped , picked up more passengers and moved on, Anu felt suffocated. The air smelt stale and she felt the beginnings of a headache. Just to distract herself, she closes her eyes in a final effort to sleep. Something catches the corner of her eye. She sees a man's hand making its way slowly around the waist of a girl who had decided to lean against the rail next to the seat in front of her. She takes a quick second to glance at the man. He was in his early 30s, clad in a nylon T-shirt with a glaring Superman sign on it and jeans. Reverting back, she sees the hand now planted firmly around the waist and the girl, with obvious discomfort, squirming to get away. She watches this episode for a few minutes till the girl, in a wave of boldness, pinches the arm. The man quickly withdraws to recover posture and makes a valiant effort to seem unaffected. The girl moves over to the next pole to lean against.

Thats when it strikes Anu. Thats it!! Nothings changed. While that feels good, sometimes its depressing. Isnt this the 21st century? Shouldnt a few things have changed? Eve-teasing has been around forever. Now its an accepted vice? You deal with it and move on? There's no solution for it go away for good? Is this worse than chicken-pox? Heck! Humanity has a cure for that!! Cant we find a solution for something like this? Agitated at this train of thoughts, she pulls the book and bottle of water out of her backpack. After a few gulps of cool water , wetting her tired eyes and some shifting, she tries to settle down to reading the book for the rest of the journey. She feels the vegetable lady leaning against her dozing. The other two passengers were a mother and daughter pair talking animatedly about an "annoying relation" in their family. The rest of the journey went uneventfully and the next thing she heard was "Hospet" being announced by a loud voice in the front of the bus. While people drained off the bus, and the vegetable lady extricated herself out of the seat, Anu felt exhausted.

As she jumped off the bus, she literally fell into the warm arms of chikkamma. "Anu" screamed chikkamma as she almost strangled her in a tight and very familiar hug. With a big grin and a return hug, Anu thought, THIS is homecoming..........................

..........some things will never change!