Amid a heavy downpour, the bus was progressing steadily towards Mysuru, while the passengers settled down for the one-hour ride. Outside I watched the familiar landmarks fly by—the plant nursery, the temple which had Nandi the bull for its gopuram, the Lakshman Tirtha River which was now in expansion mode.
The peaceful atmosphere was shattered when a voice from behind thundered, “Aa Yeddyurappa ge tale illa” (Yeddyurappa does not possess any brains). With that, he had everybody’s attention. From Yeddy to others, the verbal juggernaut rolled on sparing nobody.
Surprisingly, he had a good word for the liquor barons—Vittal Mallya and the absconding king of good times Vijay Mallya. All South Indians were model citizens and epitomes of virtue, he volunteered.
I fumed in my seat, wondering when he would stop his tirade. There’s only so many cuss words that the ears can handle! For the half of an hour that he went on the offensive, everybody sat glued to their seats. Until finally somebody asked him what the hell he was talking about and proceeded to aim two sharp slaps to his head. The offender pointed out that he was merely having a discussion with his fellow passenger—the latter, an old man.
I turned to see the bus conductor also rebuking the man for his foul language, while the driver in support of his colleague, stopped the bus. Ah! More drama I thought and sent a silent prayer to the heavens that I would reach Mysuru in time to board the train that would take me to my destination—Chennai.
More and more passengers shouted their encouragement to the conductor who was now turning a bit physical. “Throw him out of the bus,” they hollered in unison. I don’t think the passengers were Yeddy’s supporters any more than they were Siddu loyalists.
All they probably wanted, just like I, was a peaceful ride. Finally after a bit of argument, the offender consented to get off the bus. “O you should have made him get off the bus at a place where he can find transport,” a compassionate voice sounded. The old man whose only fault was to give a patient listening to the offender was mildly berated. Thankfully, the last 30-odd minutes of the journey was spent in relative peace.
Sunita Raghu
Email: sunitarag@gmail.com