My Bus Life

I had joined a school that was at a walkable distance from my home. When I completed my 10th standard i joined the  Sri Vidya mandir PU college in Malleshwaram. I had to change 2 buses. But all i did then was go to college and return home... had not even seen malleshwaram properly.

Then i joined Amrita school of engineering. This college is 30 kilometers from my home. I had to leave home every day by 6:45 and bus used to reach my stop at 7. The stop is about 2 kilometer from my home. Dad dropped me early in the morning to the bus stop. There were 2 seniors till th semester and then 1 till 6th.

Bus in the first sem was strange... Seniors rarely interacted while waiting for the bus. There was a shortage of seats in out bus and almost throughout the sem i sat on the foot board. That was perhaps the best seat in the bus.

First sem the seniors were very involved in the retun journey. Sometimes we used to get indulged in very strange conversations and discussed almost every possible topic under the sun, some of the memorable things  included imaginary numbers, string theory, trusses, aerofoams, random PJs  when we started discussing. And on some of the days we used to share earphones because I did not have FM or MP3 player to listen to it.

Yogeshwara, Karthik, Nagendra were the most involved ones in the discussions. There were some teachers also in the bus, but they used to get along with what ever we did.

On the fridays we used to be accompanied by hostellers who used to brighten the bus with their stories and jokes.


Everything changed after the first year. The college split us into two different group and since we had very few juniors, there wasnt much to talk about. How ever in the third year, we got pretty exciting juniors. People who were involved in a totally different way in the bus; It was then that we started playing Dumb Charades in the bus. On some days even the girls stated joining the game.


We used to always find Mahesh sleeping in the bus, Vinay and Visarad always involved in music. Suhas always ready as if there was something exciting going on, every now and then. And there was pranjal, a seriously cool guy, who was way beyond my league. Though I find shortage of words to express this, there were some pretty awesome everyday people.
(LOT more to come...)

21st birthday - For once i felt special.

Birthday is that special day, where you wake up with the feeling that everything is just perfect. You feel like you own the place and every time you are wished you have that special feeling.

I have always felt that the people i travelled everyday in the bus (the college bus by which i used to travel during engineering). Every one with a different idea. Everyone with a different behavior. But when it came to the time in the bus, everyone was a team.

On my 21st birthday I did not expect anyone to remember the event, because i hadn't been wished the previous 2 years. But this day as soon as i entered the bus, almost every-one wished me. Usually we used to go and eat at the Sairams Chat at Malleshwaram. On the 6th of april also the guys insisted that I go with them. Though my birthday had passes on march 31.

None of my batch-mates were coming that day, so i decided to come up with some excuse to not go. Fortunately (rather unfortunately) it was my brothers birthday that day and I insisted strongly on not going with them especially because in the past several relatives used to visit on that day. As it turned out, AFTER 10 years I had an opportunity to enjoy my birthday celebration, and there i was fooling around.

The guys in my bus had even gone ahead and bought me a wonderful T-shirt for my birthday... I wonder how I could have over-looked it. I mean there I was, a fool not going to this chat with them. I still did not go, feeling very bad, and it happened so, that because my brother had his final exam. Even he did not get a birthday celebration that year (:P).

very strange but true incidents

Event 1: The day police came looking

I had been back from my sangeetha junior exam. That evening one strange person had come looking for me. He enquied to my dad if i had been to the exam that day. Then he asked me for the question paper. I went to my room and brought the bag out and when i opened my bag, to my surprize the answer-paper was still there!!!

This exam is a government exam and the loss of paper meant shame to the invigilator. So he had logged a complain when he noticed the missing paper... Then he came looking for me and to his surprize I had not even noticed that the paper was with me. He had come with a friend. And after about 20 minutes of advise session. the two left my home with the paper.

About 10 minutes later a police man with a constable came looking for me. But now the paper was taken and my dad explained what all had happened till that point. In addition he told the police that i was very scared of police. the police asked me some 3 questions and left my home. . . (thats all nothing more :P )

And then what happened?

Back in the old school days, there was a boy so dam mischievious and hyperactive... his parents were called by the head master every now and then. He wasnt among the toppers either. Was at the very front in all the sports he played. But when it got to education... even though he raised brilliant doubts in his class, his teachers used to wonder, as to why this boy never scored much. But all this changed when the boy reached his 10 standard.

By now its pretty clear that i am talking about myself (^_^). Once in 9the standard, there was a visit to our class from a try out teacher. She went on asking random questions, and was accompanied by our headmaster. Our head-master was amazed by the way i was answering. then this was forgotten of...

Then when my headmaster visited our class i my 10th standard after the first class test, upon enquiring she came to know that i had not been within the top 10 ranks and was fully amazed. This rather came as a shock to me, as i had never actally thought of doing that well. Then all of a sudden i had a desire to live up to her expectation and vala next test i came second in the class. After that it was as if ... I has suddenly found my aim.

It was amazing how things changed after that. All my teachers had now stopped punishing me... trust me when i say this... i have experienced all the punishments that every teacher had in her arsenal till then. Be it a stand on the bench, a hit on the knuclke, a sit in the frog possition, kneel down, imposition, standing outside, standing in the corner, baskii (sit-ups).

The after effects of most punishments.

(a baskii looks like this)

Frog position punishment. Pains after long time

Imposition punishment: you get fed up of writing

Kneeling down: hurts to stand after being punished

hit with a wooden ruler, makes you hand rough, hurts like hell and leaves no mark. Clear misuse of a measuring instrument. (hands swell if hit on the other side)

one insane teacher used to hit me with the sides of the stick.

Standing outside the class, this punishment not only makes you miss the lecture, it humiliates students in front of other students and makes them get picked for any kind of mischief in the class.

Standing on the bench, not much of a punishment, unless the teacher asks you to lift your hand or rise your hand sideways while doing it. it really really hurts...

There was one particularly horrible teacher, who used to beat me on my knuckles and make me write impositions after that, I used to get so angry, even now I refuse to forgive her. One particular day when my teacher was hitting me on the hand, I caught hold of the cane I caught it so hard she could not let it go. When she looked into my eyes she looked shocked, and stopped beating me.

Lost in childhood events

Event 1:

when i was in second standard, I had been to the Hanuman temple (a.k.a Prasanna Veeranjaneya temple)  near my home with parents. Though my parents were very cautious, I was very mischievous and managed to run away from the queue. Though my parents did not notice me for some time they assumed that i would be with some relatives who had come that day. When all were out and i was found to be missing, panic struck everyone, and they decided to look for me separately.

Each relative started going to different places. My dad went home and returned to the temple. my uncle started looking in the park nearby. and my mom started searching in the temple.The occasion was Hanuman jayanthi and the temple was flooded, and the only option was to go all the way.

While coming to the very end of the queue my mom spotted me sitting next to the priest and eating dry grapes.  The priest was very kind to me. As soon as my mom spotted me she came running in... and took me outside the temple. where all my relatives met.

Event 2:

This event happened in my 4th standard. My mothers uncle and their family had come to Bangalore. So my family, my mothers brother, sister their family and the uncles family had decided to visit Lal bhag, which is a reputed botanical garden in Bangalore.

Early in the morning we reached the place, and started going to all the reputed places within. had been to the glass house, the flower show, and the Tapiary, we even went to the very enchanting tree.

Photos were taken here and there, and memories of the place have been preserved to this very day. While we come to the very end of the trip all decided to go the Kempe-gowda hill. My uncle decided to volunteer to take the children for ice-cream. I then loved the Ball-Arun Ice-cream. Since cheaper ice-creams were available, my uncle decided to convince me to get some other ice-cream. but i was stubborn and loved only this, he lost in his fight when i went all tears... When we were going back i was still crying... and as i accompanied him to the hill found myself lost.

But i had remembered the cars parking place and decided to wait at the parking place. When my uncle reached the others and found me missing. All began to panic. then decided that my dad and my uncle go looking at 3 places while the others stayback. My dad went to the opposite gate looking for me. my uncle went to the glass house and the rose gardern. Both came back but it was vein. then my dad decided to go looking near the lake. my mom had a hinche that i may be near the parking place and came and found me there.

Mother took me back. But now my dad had not returned, so the driver volunteered to go looking for my dad. A small time after he left, my dad got back and all decided to wait for the driver. Thus though the actually trip lasted 3 hours, the rest of the day was spent in looking for every other person.

Event 3:

Don't remember exactly how long back! my family had been to chamarajapetay, looking for a good Saree for my mother. we went from shop to shop, and looked for different Sarees. As my parents continued, at one point lost track of me and i started going ahead on my own. Found myself all alone and entered some random shop all crying. When my parents found me missing, they started going back to all the shops they and been earlier, and eventually came to find me. We thanked the shopkeeper for taking care of me. And returned home.

more events to come when i find free time...

Event 4:

Even though, the event I am referring to is the most recent one since it happened during second year of engineering it still counts as child hood you see. I have been working in my uncles office in all my holidays ever-since i was in 11th standard, and over time i have learnt a lot of things. My uncle had sent me to acquire training in AutoCAD and I have liked the classes a lot because I got to work on what ever I learn in those classes and got up to date with the kind of development taking place in the software.

I used to be very punctual in the class, listening to all that the teacher said, and made use of the liberty to stay back and practice what ever extra drawings they had with them at Kruti.

One day I decided to go to my friend Ravi's house, because I have always considered him a genious. I did not have a mobile at that time, and did not bother to call home and inform, because it was a routine to reach home  by around 6:30~7:00 from college. Unfortunately, that day, due to a chain of events that took place, I felt like the most careless fellow in the world and strived to change from there on.

I tried to call from a coin booth near the hotel we stopped by but the coin booth was defective. I had CAD class that evening, so I decided to go directly to my CAD class, instead of going home, but on the previous day, I had informed my parents that I did not have class till evening, and took it for granted to go with ravi. when it got 7:00, my parents started worrying, and called my friend who got down at the same stop as me. But he just told them that I did not come by the bus that day, because he did not know.

Then my dad Sent his friend Mr. Lingappa to come look for me at the class, but he did not know that the building had 3 class. Then my parents began panicking, and tried calling the police, but they would not pick up at all. Inspite of all this, my dad had hope, and came and found me at the class that day. I had no idea of all the event that had happened because of my negligence.

Not long from that day,  I got my cell. Ever-since this event, I have made it a point to inform some one at home if my schedule gets altered.