Office Journeys...

 

                 

Having missed the regular bus for Office, I was running late. It could have been worse but it was thankfully, a Friday, which meant that I could just slip into a pair of jeans and head for Office.

   I did not have to wait for long for another bus to arrive, it came almost immediately. Thanks to some brilliant planning on part of the local Government, the road outside my house is always dug up and traffic snarls are as common as muck. It then immediately opens into a broad, lush road. Drivers can’t resist speeding there having just gotten out of a traffic jam.

Our Bus Driver was no different. We were cruising at a fairly high speed. I was standing by the rear window when the Driver applied a sudden brake. Everyone was thrown out of his seat and poor standees like me fell upon poorer standees. Some people bumped their heads on the railing and some, like our Bus Conductor, just swore. It was evident that the bus had run over someone. Slowly the bus moved ahead. It was moving too slowly, in inches,  obviously the driver was carefully avoiding something. The passengers were glued to their windows, anxiously looking at the small crowd that had already gathered.

           I was the first one to see it. As the Bus moved ahead at a snail’s pace, I saw a puppy lying on the road. It was very small and was lying helplessly on the road. On the other side of the road was it’s Mother, down to her hunches and whimpering, fearing the worst. The other passengers too saw the scene and realised that their Bus had ran over someone who had a life. The anger immediately dissipated and it gave way to an overwhelming wave of pity. Nothing evokes more guilt than a dead puppy. We all were sadly looking at the dead creature and the bus was also trundling guiltily.

       And then it happened! The puppy moved a little and in one moment, it was jumping around as if it got a new life. Apparently, the driver had saved a life and not taken one. It’s mother was caressing it and jumping at the same it. I could feel the Mother’s relief in it’s joyous barking. And then I heard clapping. People around me were jumping around and clapping as well..!!