Tales from the bus ride...

Last weekend while I was on my way to Lahore, I remembered the many times I used to go back to lums after spending my quarter break at home. I especially remembered the times when I went alone on the bus. I used to occupy my seat rather early and waited to see who would end up sitting next to me, even though it hardly ever mattered since I almost never conversed. Sitting on my seat I would firmly place my eyes on the entrance, observing every person coming in, and evaluating if the person was worthy enough to be sitting next to his highness. More often than not I would be pleading “please, not him”, or start telling myself “maybe I should’ve gone with Ahmad”, or sometimes start wondering why there was always a statistically disproportionate and demographically unrepresentative greater majority of male travelers. Not once in my four years of traveling on the bus have I been accidentally given a seat next to a girl. Maybe that’s because females usually tell the guy giving the tickets that they need a seat next to another female. But given the discriminatory and unbalanced nature of the traveling population, I thought mathematics was in my favor of having at least once being mistakenly seated next to a female, even if it was for a few minutes before an arrangement was made within the bus to restore equilibrium. Not that it would’ve mattered, again. But it still intrigues me to a certain extent.

My trips from Islamabad meant that I usually got money from home while coming back from Lahore meant that I was more often than not running low on reserves. This meant that the midway stop on my way to Lahore would allow me a few snacks; ice cream and chips would be the usual. However, when going in the opposite direction, the stop would only yield a refreshing walk and some time away from the stale and, at times, suffocating air present within the bus. I stopped having the snacks they serve a long time back when I happened to get sick once. I don’t remember even watching the movie they played. Considering I had very little to do for 4 and a half hours, time would pass before I knew it. I guess the trip would give me an opportunity to gather my thoughts and make up plans for the future. As far as I know, those plans would be of very little use later. But then again, most plans are like that.

I remember once a girl I used to like was on the same bus that I was on. Well that certainly was a trip, and to top it, her seat was near mine. I therefore had to activate my anti-social mode to conceal my nervousness, meaning I covered my face with my cap and went to sleep only to find myself after some time covered with drool and sleeping with an open mouth. Embarrassed, I looked around and to my relief found no one even remotely paying attention. But somehow I knew that was going to be the case anyway. It’s funny when people think that the whole world is looking at them when basically no one could care less. I think I could’ve gone to class wearing my pajamas and no one would’ve noticed. Whenever I’ve had a hair cut people around me haven’t been able to tell what exactly is different. It just goes to prove that the only person that is looking at you that closely is you. Knowing this made my nervousness around someone I liked even more irrational. But I guess its one of those things that you know doesn’t make sense but still happens. Like finding stupid toilet jokes funny, or supporting a team to win even when it has very little chance, or getting pleasure out of writing blogs that no one reads. Now I remember how I used to spend my time on the bus….