devil on roads

Everyone including myself encounters one of them every morning standing at the bus stop…no..i don’t need to go and stand at a bus stop..its upto me..not only me…this privilege is for everyone.no one is required to go to a bus stop to board a bus in kolkata(calcutta,india).one just need to stand himself/herself on the roadside where buses ply and raise any one of their hands when they see their desired numbered bus,that’s all the driver needs to notice to step on the brakes and halt as close as you,it doesn’t matter whether you are standing on the bust stop or in the middle of the road.I also do the same thing when I see the bus I am looking for. being a common man with no power to control anything,I feel like a king when I see the bus stopping at my command.but that feeling doesn’t last long,it disappears the moment I board the bus,the conductor keeps shouting and forcing people to get inside as much as possible so that he can load as many people as he wants,he is not bothered whether there is any room for people anymore,he doesn’t see the commuters as humans,they are just tickets for him,the more tickets he manages, the more commission he gets at the end of the day. There is more room for standing then sitting in the buses…the seats are mostly smaller,not enough for two people to sit but people sit on them because they don’t have any choice,if somone is a bit taller then the leg room will be a problem, I prefer to keep standing as I am tall,my legs don’t fit in. its not less than a torture while traveling, crushed between endless people, suffocating, sweating, pushed constantly. i always take a deep breath when my moment comes to board a bus, prepare myself for the torture which I cant avoid. ironed clothes get wrinkled, polished shoes get stained .sometimes I think of taking an empty bus but then I change my mind because empty buses will take whole day to reach you your destination. the driver wont like to roll the bus at standard speed because there are not much people in it. the conductor would keep barking about the places the bus will pass through to the standing people on the roadside/bus stop, they wont budge even if the people inside the bus start getting irritated and abusing them, commuters feel like they are being transported for free, they are at their mercy, the driver and the conductor are immune to the abuses hurled at them,they will move as they wish. and suddenly the driver will step on the accelerator and the bus will move faster than train for s simple reason that a same routed bus is behind it and they cant afford to let it take over because they will loose the probable passengers on their way.now they don’t care about the passengers, they just want to be ahead in the race,even might not halt at a stop where some passenger wants to get down, it will carry him/her until it really has to stop, like at some signal or at a traffic jam.lot of people get crushed to death everyday under these devils on wheels.

The ride is enjoyable if one likes to observe people inside the bus ..there is lot of drama happening all the time… some would be found taking a good nap not bothered if their head keeps falling on the others shoulder…since there are sections/seats for ladies in buses here,some men irrespective of their ages will be found deliberately standing in that section,taking advantage of the women standing there … groping and pushing them … trying to get their hands or something else on them….one can even shop during their travel…lots of people keep hopping in to sell their respective products,there are various kinds of products,like perfumes,incense sticks,mosquito repellants,road guides,train schedules,pens,bags to name a few.they give a loud oral presentation in a peculiar style cultivated with lots of effort. Pickpokects are a common feature in the buses ..every now and then someone is victimized losing their wallets/cell phones etc. I have lost several cell phones and wallets while traveling in a bus.

ok i need to go now,have to go to market,in a bus(not again).