So while the sky kept getting depressive with darker shades of grey and the trees soothing with fresher versions of green, I hopped on to the bus and patted my windcheaters back for it had done a great job that day. A tiring day, a heavy bag and a pair of wet soggy shoes were just about to ruin my mood when a giggle on the right and a free seat on the left set the swing of my mood on the right path.

The bus started but not for long as the traffic jam was here to stay. So while I could think of some curse words, the giggles disturbed me again. They were small school children, enjoying their drawing sessions thanks to the monsoon moistness on the glass windows of the bus. The girls were into more of sceneries while the boys mastered the art of caricaturing their school teachers. The stretched out nose and Einstein-like hair style deserved the giggles, all of it!! With their nimble fingers moving across the glass and the excitement in the eyes, the expression on their face more than the final creation was worth a watch.

So the bus reached the next stop and a gang of girls entered with their attention-grabbing umbrellas. They added color to the otherwise dull looking bus. Floral prints, polka dots, fluorescent colors, frills, laces, distinctive handles; I almost had a course on umbrella designing, I guess. So while the bus moved ahead things kept getting interesting. As the bus got crowded few of the windows were opened. The fresh rush of cool breeze with some droplets was indeed a welcomed delight for most of us. Now the art work on the glass started to disappear and the kids found a new time pass. It was a combination of teasing and singing and gossiping. It seemed all of them were happily speaking something or the other without being bothered of who was listening to them. They were happy that way.

The bus jerked and we were at our next stop. This time I was really looking forward to ‘what next?’ was entering our bus. This time again, they were children, younger than the previous lot. The kindergarten kids, with their mommy dear hanging the cute school bags and water-bottles on one hand and holding their tiny tots in the other. Some were crying, some were confused and the rest were just staring around. The third kinds are my favourite.

Sometimes I simply wonder that how do these virgin eyes see this world. What meaning do these nascent citizens derive of all this happening in their surrounding? And then suddenly I realized that one of the kids was staring at me!! Now I will tell you that I hate this staring business of men otherwise but that kid made me blush, ha-ha-ha!!! With his cute double chin resting on his mother’s shoulders, the unkempt brown hair irritating his eyes and making him blink twice as fast and the pink chubby cheeks, well he did catch the attention of many passengers around but I had caught his. So when I stared back at him he gave a mischievous look, I winked and he smiled, I smiled and he hid himself in his mother’s dupatta, I acted like looking elsewhere and he was back in the game. We did this for a while and then suddenly I realized that unfortunately this time when the bus would stop I would have to get down. So as I got up from my seat and waved my hand to say bye, he dint respond. I kept walking ahead towards the gate and looking behind waiting for his bye, he wasn’t there anymore. I climbed down upset; I wished he had looked back at least once. I started to walk and the bus engine roared getting ready for its next destination. A droplet fell on my nose and I looked up.

And as if the battery of the nature’s clock had become old, the next few seconds went by slowly. And what I saw still makes me blush. He had shifted towards the window. So as I looked up to see where did the water fall from, there he was waving his water-bottle at me, and this time when I smiled he dint hide, he instead blew a flying kiss and screamed “bye diiiiiii…..”. Even today when the bus passes through that stop I look around incase a lil angel might get in. My ears still try to map voices with that day’s “bye diiiiii…”

The artistic school children, the rainbow girls with their colorful umbrellas and the innocent bunch of joy and wonderment did make the bus journey worth a recap. The shoes were still soaked in dirty water. The bag felt heavier, the road was messy and everyone on the street kept dashing me as I walked against the wave of human race. I was on my way to home sweet home or rather ‘home warm n dry home’. But the bus ride I had just finished had already sweetened my heart. And I still love travelling in crowded buses during monsoon because the journey never ends… it just takes a new turn when you were expecting it to end.