Everyday for 10 long years it came at 9:30 in the morning yes my school bus from monday to friday of every week. Its coming defined a routine not only for me but for my mother also because she could heivgh a sigh of relief only after me and my brother got into the bus. We were off to school in our school bus whose name was Kutta Bus. Actually my school had 3 buses the smallest was called Chuha Bus, the middle one Billi Bus and ours which was the biggest is size was called Kutta Bus. Rumour has it that the school purchased the Chuha Bus from the town prison when those guys were selling it, it was actually used to transport the prisoners...yeah thats the irony of life. But our bus was good its was quiet big it carried double the number of students it was supposed to carry so 50% of the students used to make the journey standing. Thats the reason the bus used to move real slow reaching school in more than an hour which would take 10 mins normally.
By the time the bus came to my stop in the morning no seats would not be there so most of the times I had to stand but my favourite place to stand rather half-sit was on the rod behind driver uncle's seat. I could stand there undisturbed and without anybody stamping on my shoes and feel the wind on my face coming from driver uncle's open window. We were dying to stand there.
During the rainy season the condition was worse. We would get up on the bus wearing our rain-coats with water dripping from them and the moment we got up the students sitting comfortably would push us away from themselves bcoz they didnt want the water to drop on them...there were books in the bags you see.
Seat reservation for friends was also in full swing so some seats would go empty till 3-4 stops till their very deserving occupants got up :-). Another favourite place to sit for seatless people like me was on the engine cover. Sometimes during summers when the engine got really hot it was a little difficult to sit on it I agree :-)
While coming back from school all of us would try to run at top speed to get a seat,the day I would get a window seat it made my day that meant I could gaze out of the window for one long hour see those very things which I saw everyday yet wanted to see one more time.
Seat or no seat I had the time of my life travelling to and fro from school in that bus for 10 years. We played all types of games that were possible to play in a moving bus. Some ambitious students even managed to study in that din, there was one girl specially who would always study in the bus no matter whether it was exam time or not. I now wonder why did she study so much and what had she to study that she kept on reading in the bus also :-) Many long lasting friendships were formed from that one journey friends who are still with me now :-)
Whenever I go home now, at 9:30 I have to go out and stand near my gate and first I hear the sound ( it still moves slowly na) and then comes my blue colour School Bus. The scene inside is same as it used to be when I rode on it but I wonder who half-sits on the rod behind driver uncle's seat now?
