Shanta* took the same bus to college every day. It was funny, because recently the bus system had changed, meaning that her regular 7.45 bus now left at 8.20, far too late for her to make her morning class of 9 am. So, she took a rickshaw to the other nearest bus stop to completely change her route. She could have also chosen, that morning, to take a ride with her older brother, but she thought it was the best chance for her to learn the quickest and easiest bus route to college.
That morning, says Shanta, she wasn’t even particularly well dressed. She was wearing an old pair of jeans and a faded kurta. “I hadn’t even washed my hair!” she says, embarrassed. All the “ladies only” seats were taken, so she chose to sit down next to the least aggressive looking man. (“Men in Delhi are so strange,” says Shanta, “They keep staring and staring, so hard, it makes you feel very uncomfortable.) The “gentle looking boy” was Simon*, also trying a new bus route that day, also experimenting with many different buses till he found one that worked for him.
Shanta’s early morning habit was to catch up on reading for her class that day. She was then in her first year of English Honours and had to read three chapters before she reached college. Much to her surprise, her seatmate leaned over, cleared his throat and explained that he was in English Honours too, only in second year. He had done that book the year before and he told her what to look for in the chapters and what points to raise in the lecture that day. When she got off the bus, he gave her a small wave and she smiled secretly to herself, deciding to try out what he said. The book wasn’t something she understood very well, so his points had really helped her grasp it. She found herself taking the rickshaw to the same bus stop the next day, in the hope that her helpful seatmate would be there once more.
“I had to hold on to her seat and I was so scared she wasn’t coming,” Simon says, laughing, “All these people around me kept giving me dirty looks and I had to keep saying, “No, no, someone is coming, someone is going to sit here.” Shanta and Simon rode together that entire year, Shanta did excellently in her college exams, and finally, on the last day of college, Simon suggested they get off one stop before hers and get a milkshake.
They have been dating for a year and a half now, and “it’s all because of DTC’s changing bus schedule!” says Shanta, happily. Her marks have also improved, wonderfully.
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*names have been changed
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