MADAM RIDES THE BUS
VALLIKKANNAN
�THERE was a girl named Valliammai who was called Valli for short. She was eight years old and very curious about things. Her favourite pastime was standing in the front doorway of her house, watching what was happening in the street outside.�There were no playmates of her own age on her street, and this was about all she had to do. But for Valli, standing at the front door was every bit as enjoyable as any of the elaborate games otherchildren played. Watching the street gave her many new unusual experiences.
����������The most fascinating thing of all was the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest�town. It passed through her street each hour, once going to the town and once coming back. The sight of the bus, filled each time with a new set of passengers, was a source of unending joy for Valli.
Hai!!, bus !!!,
I want to ride on that bus at least once
Valli would stare wistfully at the people who got on or off the bus when it stopped at the street corner. Their faces would kindle in her longings, dreams, and hopes. If one of her friends happened to ride the bus and tried to describe the sights of�the town to her, Valli would be too jealous to listen
Hey, Today I went to the town. How nice it is! Big buildings ,shops lot of people!
Proud! Proud!
Hey, I went to the town today. How nice it is!
Big buildings!, shops,lot of people!
Over many days and months Valli listened carefully to conversations between her neighbours�and people who regularly used the bus, and she also asked a few discreet questions here and there. This way she picked up various small details about the bus journey.
How far is the town?
Six miles from here.
What is the fare one way?
Thirty paise one way which is almost nothing at all.
How much time will it take to reach the town?
Fortyfive minutes
On and on went her thoughts as she calculated�and recalculated, planned and replanned.
Thirty paise one way! My God! it is a fortune!
I’ll take the 1o’clock bus and return home by about two forty five.
I’ll save sixty paise and will not get down from the bus.
Well, one fine spring day the afternoon bus was just on the point of leaving the village and turning into the main highway when a small voice was heard shouting:�And a tiny hand was raised commandingly.The bus slowed down to a crawl
“Stop the bus! Stop the bus!”
“Hurry then! Tell whoever it is to come quickly.”
“It’s me,”
“I’m the one who has to
get on.”
“Oh, really! You don’t say so!”
By now the bus had come to a stop
“Yes, I simply have to go to town,”
“and here’s my money.”
“Okay, okay, but first you must get on the bus,”
The conductor stretched out a hand to help her.
“Never mind,”
“I can get on by myself.
You don’t have to help me.”
“Oh,
please don’t be angry with me, my fine madam,”
It was the slack time of day, and there were�only six or seven passengers on the bus. They were�all looking at Valli and laughing with the conductor.
“Here, have a seat right up there in front. Everybody move aside please — make way for madam.”
Then he blew his whistle twice, and�the bus moved forward with a roar.
Valli devoured everything with her eyes. But when she started to look outside, she found her view cut off by a canvas blind that covered the lower part of her window. So she stood up on the seat and peered over the blind.
blind
peered
devoured
(Enjoyed quickly and eagerly)
The bus was now going along the bank of a canal. The road was very narrow. On one side there was the canal and, beyond it, palm trees, grassland, distant mountains, and the blue, blue sky. On the other side was a deep ditch and then acres and acres of green fields — green, green, green, as far as the eye could see.
Oh, it was all so wonderful!
Suddenly she was startled by a voice. Sitting down, she looked to see who had spoken.�It was an elderly man who had honestly been concerned for her, but she was annoyed by�his attention.
. “Listen,�child,” “you shouldn’t stand like that.�Sit down.”
“There’s nobody here who’s a child,” “I’ve paid my thirty paise like everyone
else.”
The conductor chimed in. Valli shot an angry glance at the conductor. Everyone laughed, and gradually Valli too joined in the laughter.
“Oh, sir, but this is a
very grown-up madam. Do you think a mere girl
could pay her own fare and travel to the city
all alone?”
“I am not a madam. Please remember that. And you’ve not yet given me my ticket.”
“I’ll remember,”
The conductor punched a ticket and handed it to her.
“Just sit back and make yourself comfortable. Why should you stand when you’ve paid for a seat?”
“Because I want to,”
“But if you stand on the seat, you may fall and hurt yourself when the bus makes a sharp turn or hits a bump. That’s why we want you to sit down, child.”
Conversation between the girl and the conductor
I’m not a child, I tell you,
“I’m eight years old.”
“Of course, of course. How stupid of me! Eight
years — my!”
The bus stopped, some new passengers got on, and the conductor got busy for a time. Afraid of losing her seat, Valli finally sat down. An elderly woman came and sat beside her.
“Are
you all alone, dear?”
“Yes, I’m travelling alone,” “And I’ve got a ticket too.”
“Yes, she’s on her way to town,” “With a thirty-paise ticket.”
“Oh, why don’t you mind your own business,”
But the old woman went on with her drivel.
“Is it proper for such a young person to travel alone? Do you know exactly where you’re going in town? What’s the street? What’s the house number?”
“You needn’t bother about me. I can take care of
myself,”
Her first journey — what careful, painstaking, elaborate plans she had had to make for it! She had�thriftily saved whatever stray coins came her way, resisting every temptation to buy peppermints, toys,�balloons, and the like, and finally she had saved a total of sixty paise. How difficult it had been,�particularly that day at the village fair, but she had resolutely stifled a strong desire to ride the merrygo-�round, even though she had the money.
Peppermint, toys, balloons,merrygo round. No,I won’t spend my money on those.
After she had enough money saved, her next problem was how to slip out of the house without her mother’s knowledge. But she managed this without too much difficulty. Every day after lunch her mother would nap from about one to four or so. Valli always used these hours for her ‘excursions’ as she stood looking from the doorway of her house or sometimes even ventured out into the village; today, these same hours could be used for her firstexcursion outside the village.
The bus rolled on now cutting across a bare landscape, now rushing through a tiny hamlet or past an odd wayside shop. Sometimes the bus
seemed on the point of gobbling up another vehicle that was coming towards them or a pedestrian crossing the road. But lo! somehow it passed on smoothly, leaving all obstacles safely behind. Trees came running towards them but then stopped as the bus reached them and simply stood there helpless for a moment by the side of the road before
rushing away in the other direction.
Suddenly Valli clapped her hands with glee. A young cow, tail high in the air, was running very fast, right in the middle of the road, right in front of the bus. The bus slowed to a crawl, and the driver sounded his horn loudly again and again. But the more he honked, the more frightened the animal became and the faster it galloped — always right in
front of the bus.
Somehow this was very funny to Valli. She laughed and laughed until there were tears in her eyes.
“Hey, lady, haven’t you laughed enough?” “Better save some for tomorrow.”
At last the cow moved off the road. And soon the bus came to a railroad crossing. A speck of a train could be seen in the distance, growing bigger and bigger as it drew near. Then it rushed past the crossing gate with a tremendous roar and rattle,
shaking the bus. Then the bus went on and passed the train station. From there it traversed a busy, well-laid-out shopping street and, turning, entered
a wider thoroughfare. Such big, bright-looking shops! What glittering displays of clothes and other merchandise! Such big crowds!
Struck dumb with wonder, Valli gaped at everything. Then the bus stopped and everyone got off except Valli.
“Hey, lady,aren’t you ready to get off? This is as far as your thirty paise
takes you.”
“No,” “I’m going back on this same bus.”
“Why, is something the matter?”
“No, nothing’s the matter. I just felt like having a bus ride, that’s all.”
Struck dumb with wonder, Valli gaped at everything. Then the bus stopped and everyone got off except Valli.
“Don’t you want to have a look at the sights, now that you’re here?”
“All by myself? Oh, I’d be much too afraid.”
“But you weren’t afraid to come
in the bus.”
“Nothing to be afraid of about that,”
Struck dumb with wonder, Valli gaped at everything. Then the bus stopped and everyone got off except Valli.
“Well, then, why not go to that stall over there and have something to drink? Nothing to be afraid of about that either."
“Oh, no, I couldn’t do that.”
“Well, then, let me bring you a cold drink.”
“No, I don’t have enough money. Just give me
my ticket, that’s all.”
“It’ll be my treat and not cost you anything.”
“No, no,” “please, no.”
The conductor shrugged, and they waited until it was time for the bus to begin the return journey. Again there weren’t many passengers.
“Won’t your mother be looking for you?”
“No, no one will be looking for me,”
The bus started, and again there were the same wonderful sights.
Valli wasn’t bored in the slightest and greeted everything with the same excitement she’d felt the first time. But suddenly she saw a young cow lying dead by the roadside, just where it had been struck by some fast-moving vehicle
“Isn’t that the same cow that ran in front of the bus on our trip to town?”
The conductor nodded, and she was overcome with sadness. What had been a lovable, beautiful creature just a little while ago had now suddenly lost its charm and its life and looked so horrible, so frightening as it lay there, legs spreadeagled, a fixed
stare in its lifeless eyes, blood all over...
The bus moved on. The memory of the dead cow haunted her, dampening her enthusiasm. She no longer wanted to look out the window. She sat thus, glued to her seat, until the bus reached her village at three forty.
She stood up and stretched herself.
Then she turned to the conductor
“Well, sir, I hope to see you again.”
“Okay, madam,” “Whenever you feel like a bus ride, come and join us. And don’t forget to bring your fare.”
She laughed and jumped down from the bus.
When she entered her house she found her mother awake and talking to one of Valli’s aunts,the one from South Street. This aunt was a real chatterbox, never closing her mouth once she started talking.
“And where have you been?”
“Yes, you’re right,”. “So many things in our midst and in the world outside. How can we possibly know about everything? And even when we do know about something, we often can’t understand it completely, can we?”
“Oh, yes!”
“What?” “What’s that you say?”
“Oh,” “I was just agreeing with what you said about things happening without our knowledge.”
“Just a chit of a girl, she is,” “and
yet look how she pokes her nose into our conversation,
just as though she were a grown lady.”
Valli smiled to herself. She didn’t want them to understand her smile. But, then, there wasn’t much chance of that, was there?