Where will you sit?

Good Morning. The office is calling you. Unwillingly you wake up, lazily get ready. It’s just the monetary compensation that they give you for this agony of abruptly ending your morning dreams, makes your ass move.

If you don’t have a vehicle of your own it obviously makes you feel crippled. Every morning, sharp at 8 the light pink 52 seat “Kuttoor Travel” company’s transport bus arrives.

The moment you board the bus, your mind gets torn, ripped apart, bifurcated into two simultaneous activities – get a glimpse of all the lovely faces and their innovative attires, find a seat for yourself. In a way both the activities are so interrelated. What follows next is an ultra slow divulgence of an ultra fast decision: where will you sit?

It’s that time of the year wherein the newly recruited ill shaped and some not so ill shaped females and their male counterparts are seen everywhere. Around seven months back you were a fresher and with newer faces joining in, you quite feel out of place. You see them talking, chatting, giggling, singing, whispering and every little activity that indulge you somehow, drag you into it, connect to them.

“Oh! The entire bus is full.” You talk to yourself. With very few seats available (around 10) and the commuters pushing you from behind, you have to be lightening fast.

You take a deep breath. Here you go.

“No, No, No! Not beside that big fat aunty!!! A male company – bad, bad idea!! You start ruling out the possible co- traveler for a journey of just 20 minutes.

Suddenly your eyes get stuck on to this gorgeous young lady.” I have not seen her before. Is she new to the company or new to this bus? She must be a fresher!” The seat beside her is unoccupied. You get an illusion, the next moment, as you shakily move towards that seat, she smiled at you. It seems you have won the entire universe. But wait!! The guy from behind you moves across and sits beside her. Bastard!! That smile was for him. The six pack guy. At this moment, you probably start cursing your in grown toe nail and soreness which forced you to wear a ‘floater ‘and you feel pathetic and under confident.

Then you don’t bother to find a seat beside any of those glamorous and vibrant companions. Even before the first bus- engine ever came into existence, seat mates and the resulting soul mates were fixed. Unfortunately you were not a part of the story. Half the bus is crossed and options are now quartered.

You take a fancy again. And once again you found your tentative source of morning glory. You have been seeing her since the first day you had boarded this bus. She sits in the same seat, fourth from the last. In black today, she looks absolutely hot!!! But you have never spoken to her, except for a few forcible corporate smiles. Today may be the jinx will break. You almost reach her. Your heart skips a beat, then two. And you take a step more than you should have. What came to you is the aroma of her shampoo. There is no second chance, no looking back – Loser!!!

“Was that the sudden break, laws of inertia, pseudo force, conservative background, foreground, all boys’ School environment? What?? “There is a never ending conversation between you and you.

The next moment you find yourself adjusting between two different thundering male thighs on the last seat of the bus, gasping for breath.”Hey man, how are you doing this morning”? The person towards your left enquires. You feel choked and suffocated about this daily tragedy. Welcome to the office.