A face to remember

It was indeed a wonderful trip, this was not the first time that I am boarding Raj National Express, it’s the third time, and so with the some good expectations, I booked tickets with them. This time too, as usual they didn’t keep their timings, but the good thing is the seats are having a leather cover, and so need not be afraid of bed bugs! Lol, I had enough biting from them even in Volvo buses :-(.
Reached the boarding point at 7 15PM, pick up van came by around 7.45PM , it was supposed to take us to the bus, and to my great disappointment I noticed that they wasted their diesel by making a round of the city, while the bus had stopped just next to the Raj office.. May be they wanted to prove the Earth is round.
But things were totally disgusting when I got into the bus. Having prior experience in travelling with raj, I was shocked to see the bus condition; any child will have a doubt if it’s a Volvo bus. My brother even asked me to check if there is any Tata label below the Volvo label he he…
And I noticed a guy sitting on the adjacent seat of mine n I grew more desperate.. I prefer travelling with females for many reasons. But couldn’t find a place to shift. But once the bus halted for the dinner the girl who sat on the same row of mine asked me ” are you comfortable sitting with a guy”
Me “No, actually I thought you are travelling with that guy”.
She “So do u mind exchanging the seats?”
Me” No issues”
There was around 5 more minutes for the bus to leave from there and we both started talking. We were speaking about the bus condition and even she had the doubt if it was a Volvo bus. And also we both discussed on how tiresome the journey between Pune and Bangalore is; it’s a long 16 hrs journey in Bus. She asked me if I work here in Pune. I also told her that I work with Satyam and we both shared our views regarding the satyam scam. 2 total strangers who met just minutes before, by this time had started talking nonstop. When the man sitting next to her came, we gently requested him for exchanging the seats and he agreed with that. Journey continued and we expected the bus people to keep some movies to entertain us in this pathetic bus conditions, but it remained a mere hope, no movie.
Being seated in the 7th row on board, we could count each and every lovely pools on the roads, and sometimes I felt like I was flying from my seats. To add spice to this the man sitting on the next row was snoring to his best. It is a real talent to sleep amidst of all these shakings. We (me n the girl sitting beside) continued our talks, she said she is married and husband at Bangalore, so she travels most weekend down to Bangalore to meet him. I told I have many friends there, so it’s a long weekend, so planned to enjoy there and so on.
Journey continued. We found it a lot disturbing to sleep. It seems the bus counted each an every pool on the road.hmm... Disgusting!!!. Time elapsed, a dreadful night passed along, we both thought the bus might have moved at a great pace at night, so only had to count the pools, but we were wrong. It was 3 hours late from the scheduled time. I knew it when the bus stopped at a Motel. I had been at this place before, while travelling with the same travels. So I knew how far Bangalore was from that place. I wanted to reach little early, but now I knew it is not at all possible. Hmm… fate, else what.
Both of us had cold Badam Milk for breakfast, she bought Orbit for both of us. We had a small stroll outside and finally got into the bus. She had asked me the previous day itself if I was from Kerala; I look like a typical one. And I knew from her that she was from Jammu. We got into the bus as journey continued. We were chatting on how dreadful the night was and she said that she had framed her certificates and painting and have kept on the upper draw of the Bus and was wondering if it would have broken. I was searching a for a place to frame my paintings since a month and I got to know from her , where in Pune I can get it framed. She gave me the address of 2 places.
I asked her if she got married recently and she asked me if my marriage was fixed, I told its fixed and she asked if it was a love or arranged one. I asked her the same, hers was an "arranged with fun" marriage in her concept. She told me she had refused for marriage with the guy who is her husband now and so on.
She asked me what field I’m into and same thing I too enquired from her. We shared snacks which we had in our bags. And in between I had kept my mobile for charging with the bus driver and she kept reminding me on the same. How sweet. And when we finally reached Bangalore (@ Majestic) by 11AM, I helped her take her paintings from the top.
Bus stopped I waived her bye, she too did the same, I got down from the bus, and took an auto. I realized something then, I had been talking with this girl for more than half a day but we both didn’t ask each other’s name!!!. But still we didn’t find it difficult in talking to each other. What lies in a name? It’s all how you deal with others, it’s all up to an individual’s attitude, and frequency of thoughts of the duo .
Though the journey was a bit tough, I enjoyed her company, hoping that I will meet her again to share more jokes and matters on life. She too is my friend now. She is someone special for me. I still remember her with her cute smile. :-)