Tuesday, February 12, 2008

My tryst with public transport

Unlike the rest of Bombay that believes in the power of public transport, I have been cabbing it to work and back for the last one & a half months. This has earned me the tag of a brat. Elitist, snobbish...you name it, I've been called it by colleagues & friends. You'd think at least your friends, who are supposed to know you better than your colleagues, would refrain from making such character judgments about you. Well, think again!

So yesterday I made a valiant attempt to take the bus to work and back, and both my attempts were foiled by guess who! Friends, ofcourse!

I fought the urge to hop into the cab and was waiting patiently at the bus stop in the morning when a friend pulled over in his Ford Ikon. He rolled down his windows and sat inside his nice comfortable air-conditioned car laughing at me. I tried to ignore him at first, then I tried pleading with him to leave but when I realized I wasn't getting anywhere, I decided to hop into his car. Oh well, I could always take the bus back from work. Taking public transport one way would be better than cabbing it both ways.

So I went and stood at the bus stop again in the evening and guess what happened! Two of my colleagues, who give me hell every single day for taking the cab to work, spotted me and pulled over in their cab. They kept yelling at me to hop in, and I was actually standing there yelling back "I can't! I have to take the bus! Go away! I need to take the bus! Can't you see I'm making an effort here?" And these colleagues of mine were laughing their arses off! That was the funniest thing that happened to me all of yesterday & we laughed about it all the way back home!

Today I made another attempt to take the bus to work and I succeded! Seems the Gods have finally decided to help me in my quest to shake off the "brat" tag. I hope tomorrow is another good day. Amen.

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