“Hooligans aboard!”

 

Owing to my Bike’s stubborn protest, I was forced to board an MTC bus to go to college. Little did I realise that I would become a mute bystander to an audacious display of ‘flouting the rules.’ I prefer to refrain from disclosing the bus number since it would jeopardize my survival. After boarding the bus and depositing the ticket safely into the pocket, I hustled for a seat but my efforts went in vain.

Uncouth behaviour:

Barely after ten minutes a gang of students from another college in the city conquered the bus. Turning a blind eye to the fact that the bus was packed to the brim, they squeezed themselves near both the doors. For the next one hour (sigh!) an unceasing entertainment (err… not really) in the most unimaginable venue ensued!

The guys broke into a song after a short consensus. The tunes were the imitations of popular Tamil film numbers. They modified the lyrics ito sing praises of their college. The singers were loud and got unstinting support from their partners who either whistled deliriously or banged vehemently against the sides of the bus much to the horror of the commuters.

Their heroics had a profound impact on the commuters which translated into sighs of despair from the elderly, cries of terrified babies, giggles of girls in disdain and gasps from women to catch their breath, curses from men folks in a hush – hush tone. Their pleas were directed to the Ombudsman i.e. the Conductor. His pleas, amidst the cacophony of morning traffic and the absolute pandemonium inside the bus, drowned. The temper tantrums of the commuters upped the ante of their hooliganism further.

Enjoying at the cost of commuters.

Some swashbucklers among the group climbed and parked themselves atop the bus. Some clung onto the windows and were ogling at the girls. Their flair at pulling off this difficult act adroitly would have given Spider man a run for his money! Girls, for whose attention they were vying with each other paid no heed to their antics. Adding to the woes was traffic and as a result the bus moved at snail’s pace. After testing times, the limbs of the law finally arrived. The pirates got a whiff of impending disaster and abandoned the vessel in the flash of an eye-lid.

From the bits and pieces of conversation which followed I discovered that it was a regular task for the commuters to endure this ordeal. My eye-brows arched when I learnt that this exercise continue despite the presence of two police stations en route to its destination. One must not forget that these youngsters have a flair when it comes to the gift of the gab, singing, drumming and athletics. If they harnessed it effectively they will GO places else they will GO behind bars! A recent move to ban Bus day comes as a great relief. The authorities must act and try to put some sense into their heads.