The Unusually Usual bus-ride

Chennai is an amazing place...There are people from various parts of the state and even country living together here. This unity in diversity makes us come across different kinds of people in our day to day life.This in turn leads to various funny incidents!
On the eve of diwali, our training got over soon...so I had to take the public transport to get to my home(usually I  go by company bus). So my first challenge was to find my bus stand! When I inquired , I was given 2 options...First was a bus stand which was around 10 minutes from my building(I was told all buses were sure to stop there)...Next was the bus stand right next to my building(but only AC buses will stop there)! Of course the lazy side of me convinced my brain to go for the 2nd option...So took the stop which was right next to my building! It always happens...when we wait for a particular bus, every other bus...even the rarest route's bus will come..but not ours! Same thing happened...every other bus including the ordinary buses that stops in the other stop passed by me...And every time, a bus passed, my brain cursed my lazy side...When my brain finally overpowered my lazy self and made me take a step towards the other bus stand...there came an AC bus, like an angel from heaven;-) When I noticed the bus coming, I felt like 100 violins playing a happy and peppy BGM...when the bus arrived and seeing the crowd gather near the only open single door...my BGM dropped to 1 violin with a very sad tune! AC buses have 2 doors but usually only 1 is opened...but to my surprise, the driver opened the 2nd door too which was next to me...I gave a victorious smile inside seeing the hush and push near the 1st door...Again my single violin multiplied to 100 and peppy BGM resumed;-)
Obviously the bus was crowded...so there was hardly any place not only to sit but also to stand( but still my dear eyes scanned the bus for seats, of course in vain;-)) Then passing the ticket game began(a modified version of passing the parcel)...everybody started passing the money and the conductor passed the tickets back...We actually need a lot of talent to play this game successfully! We have to pass the money towards the conductor simultaneously passing the ticket and change( if the conductor is in a good mood to give) towards the right person... that too without losing our balance(the driver will keep testing this aspect of the game from time and again by applying sudden brakes)! In this confusion...there may be a mix up of tickets...even our ticket would get lost...Not to worry...all is well that ends well:)
Once this game was done,  the conductor(who was free after issuing the tickets) now bullied us to move inside...I wriggled but didn't move...the conductor noticed it and specifically mentioned me to move!I was left with no other option but to move...As soon as I moved to the upper-side of the bus(AC bus has an upper and lower side), the girl who was sitting next to where I was standing earlier...stood up to get down! Soon,the seat was occupied by another guy who just got inside the bus...I was fuming with rage(with both the girl and the conductor)...I felt it was a conspiracy plotted against me by both of them...
Now my entire concentration was focused on the lady sitting on the seat next to me now...Since she was having a travel bag, I assumed she was working away from home and going home for Diwali...Just a travel bag triggered such a long story about her in my mind(Tip: All these assumptions and cooking up imaginative stories in our mind about our co-passengers is a nice way to pass time). Few people wriggled out..moving towards the door, disrupting my thoughts! Now i noticed her sitting erect and holding the handle of the bag...This time I was sure not to lose this seat...I eyed at my villain(conductor),he was busy with 2nd round of passing the tickets game! Heaving a sigh of relief, I got ready to sit...But to my dismay...the lady left her bag handles down and made herself comfortable...I got pissed off once again! She repeated it 3 times, deceiving me all the 3 times...I added her also the conspirators' list;-)
Due to the new swarm of people(after the 2nd round of passing tickets) entering my side, I was automatically pushed behind! This was the far end of the bus where the bump effects were very predominant....I was trying my best to balance without falling! At the peak of the moment...A voice from behind, in a very familiar tone called me by my name and confirmed my identity.She introduced herself as my school mate(till today I couldn't recollect memories about her in school) and in an act of being very friendly, she stretched her hand for a handshake...This was the most difficult moment...I had to reciprocate but without losing my balance(and praying that the driver shouldn't apply brakes)! We had reached a famous central stop, i suppose...as the entire sea of people along with that over friendly school mate got down... I literally let out a huge huge sigh of relief and sat down, settling in a comfortable seat at last! A girl sat next to me...she smiled at me...I responded too! After some time she asked something...when I was about to ask her to repeat, she pushed her hair behind her ears...I noticed the bluetooth headset...Embarrassed,Turning towards the window, I cursed myself for being so dumb,but at the same time felt a little bit at ease for not exhibiting my dumbness in front of her( Human psychology: Even if we are dumb...we won't show it to others...prestige issue u see;-))
 Finally, my stop neared...I started my balancing act and moved forward...I knew bus won't stop in the stop which I was going to ask for...But still, took a chance and went near the driver(remember..he opened the door for me in the begining...so he was classified as a friend)...Didn't want to ask this favour to the "villain"(conductor). The driver was replyless,so had to rely on my luck now.To my surprise, my foe turned a friend...conductor blew the whistle right in my preffered stop signalling the driver to stop!
I was surprised and responded with a "thank you" to my new foe turned friend and made my way towards home!
This blog is specially dedicated to all those people who travelled with me in that bus and made it a memorable ride, esp to the driver and conductor:-) 

happy-I-ness

I was pondering over what to write...considering that its my first blog(starting problems are always there) .I finally decided to start my blogging on a "happy" note!!!

When we pose an interesting question "What makes you happy?", we'll get plenty of out-of-the-box replies. Most of us will give a direct answer like "enjoying the rain" or "going on a holiday" or "when a friend agrees to take you on a treat(though the same might be the unhappy day for the friend who is treating you)" or"sudden promotion/salary hike", so on... When we think about the question a little more,"What makes me happy?" The most appropriate answer will be "I make myself happy"!!!
Happiness  is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions. External factors do contribute to it, but the final control lies within us. We all would have experienced "good" days and "bad" days. "Good days" are termed as days when we feel extremely happy, right from the beginning of the day...everything will go amazingly well as-per plan. "Bad days" are termed as days when everything becomes an utter flop and even the slightest of things can annoy us. Our day becomes a good or a bad day only from the manner in which we look at it. If we start our day with a positive note, am sure everyday will be a happy day. Here are few tips to make your day happy:

-> Start the day with a smile: Smiling is contagious. When you smile at a person, they will surely smile back. It makes you as well as the other person feel better.

->Make sure to greet your friends/colleagues: A simple "hi", "hello" or just waving your hand acknowledging your friend in-spite of your busy work can do wonders. It makes people around you to feel comfortable which in turn is sure to make you happy.It creates an aura of friendliness around you!

->Never let others spoil your day: When your colleague/friend is having a bad day(in their terms) and lets it out on you,don't let it spoil your day. Just understand that they are just not in their element. Try your bit to help them,if not, the better option will be to move away from that place.

-> Give genuine compliments:All of us like compliments that too when it comes from a genuine source.When you feel your friend has done something well, ensure that you let him/her know about it. It can make his/her day happy. Your friend is sure to follow the same soon!

->Never grieve over past or worry about the future: This is easy to tell but definitely very difficult(nearly impossible) to implement.We always search for reasons to worry about something or the other. For eg, After my 12th I was worrying about getting into a good engineering college. After getting into college, I was worried about staying in hostel..Then I was worried about my placement...After getting placed in a famous IT company, I was worried about my DOJ.After getting DOJ I was worried about making new friends, good domain,getting accustomed to new environment...After getting into the company and settling down for a week, when I heard about reshuffling I was worried about getting used to new atmosphere all over again. But today, a week after reshuffling, am happy and comfortable here also. At every stage I used to miss the previous or worry about the next.When I think about it now...while writing my blog..I find it very funny!

That's life! It just goes on....So, it is "I" which is the centre of happIness.

Your happiness revolves around you.


                                                    Have A Happy Day!