Ganesh travels and the regular customer

Anticipation of the 13 hours journey totally ruins the last day of stay at home. Fast approaching exam,(Too much of mention about it but ask me what I'm actually doing about it) end of holiday and the thought of back to routine to add on to it. Sigh.. Being grouchy fetches extra hugs, extra sweets and at times extra money too.

I had lost my bus ticket which was not purposeful though my parents think otherwise. No ticket was not a problem at all to my dismay. Small town life has its own advantages. Everybody knows everybody. During my primary school days the post man used to deliver letters which had just my father's and town's name as address. There was a newly opened 'Hero honda clinic' next to our house. The majenta pamphlets which advertised for it distributed along with the newspaper had his hospital as the landmark. I was so proud!

As a kid every summer vacation religiously was spent in Bombay. There are no direct trains. Dadar Chennai express on our way back till Guntakal. A Premier Padmini would pick us up from there. Grandmother wouldn't let me have a berth for myself. I was petit and fragile. For as long as I can remember she shared hers with me. Small town mentality again. No, she was worried about my safety, of course. Till Guntakal I cried for all that I left behind. Then on I thought about the nice things that awaited me back at home.

The habit still remains. Only by 2nd half of the journey am I enthusiastic about being back to college. To get over the initial sulkiness I opened the newspaper wrapped snack box. It was the front page of an old Sunday times. 'How happy are you?' was the article. Interesting statistics about surveys conducted in metros with author's comments. I was keen to know how it was concluded. But that part was torn. I sat back and thought. How happy am I? When I flip back pages in my diary (favourite late night activity) I sometimes find totally contradicting moods on two consecutive days. External stimuli, surroundings couldn't have change that drastically that soon. All said and done, we all know, but how many of us do really realise that it's all in the mind? I get to choose what I want to feel like, I reminded myself.

It was getting dark plus the thought process was getting serious. I tossed it aside. The window in front of me wasn't closed properly. Cold air was almost stinging from the long ruler sized space. Almost all other windows were shut completely, bus was going fast and this was a small space. There was a whistling noise. Talking to strangers in the bus is one of the many other things I hate without reason. I hesitated to ask my co passenger.

In some country, I cannot recall which, if your spouse's breath smells of garlic during bedroom intimacy, it can be taken as a ground for divorce! Snoring is included too. Sometimes the latter provision doesn't seem too frivolous to me when I think of the extent to which somebody's snoring annoys me. The person across the aisle snored away the night blissfully with mouth open. It was loud and clear. I could imagine the texture and consistency of his snot.

So I let the whistling noise be and decided to put up with the cold. That way I could also get away with not talking to anybody.

Evidence of sebaceous glands' secretion and numerous tangles in hair is the proof of my over night journey. Reached my room at last. Thoughtful roommate had left it open.

Sight of Fuzzy(stuffed gorilla), Steve(stuffed turtle) and my teddy bear whose name I cannot take for certain non obvious reasons cheered me up. Steve is named in memory of Steve Irwin. I like people who are good to animals.

There is a poster of a baby with his chin laid heavy into his palms. He has a confused exclamation cum interrogatory expression. Caption: To be or not to be. A friend had given it to me. 'This is totally you" she had said. My constant companion - indecisiveness. What about morning class? After a mental debate, I texted her (her=master of the fine art of proxy) to handle things for me. With appreciation and wonder I thought about the whole concept of proxy and slid under the covers.