Boarding a bus
Boarding a bus has become mandatory for the long journeys that I have been taking across city and city limits. These long journeys are being taken within the permissible limits of my budget and with the belief that truth and honesty would prevail no matter who tries to double cross whom.
As I board another bus with another set of people with another set of demands against another set of cold windy weather, the set of demands from the one handing out ticket was fair and simple. He wanted all those on board to take the ticket lest the penalty would be procured even before the bus reaches its destination. Majority of those who boarded had a pass to flaunt with a few like us having had to pay upfront. Pay upfront was the desire of the conductor lest you are shown the door in this blistering weather.
AS I preferred to stand in a corner instead take a seat, I was reminded of the trek I have been taking for years with nothing having changed. Papers in the morning had stories of Bofors screaming when the all-weather debate was whether the scream of the RAja would be lost in the din. Some in the bus with cell close to their ears were talking about hisaab kitaab and the meals they missed out in the morning to keep their date, the most irritating picture was of those in other modes of transport hooked to a cell while making an attempt to drive to hell. Perhaps no alarm or alarming picture bothered them to think and rewind.
AS the assembled lot in the bus were screaming to perfection on acts of profanity and distaste, the scream from one Rani Mukherjee on the language she belted out in the forthcoming movie No One Hired Killers was an all family affair had fewer takers. Most believed this would make her lose her crown and create unwanted thunder.
Those assembled inside the bus walked out with the resurgent belief that SAchin, Rahul Dravid and Laxman were the backbone of batting lineup and these and only these three had class though form may not endure long enough to give a repeated blast. As I too walked out with the man at the wheels visibly polite, the parting query was would this polite quotient be ever visible in the streets of the capital.
Some also talked about gautam adhikari's piece on sunday ( on Bihar polls and mediamen who pretended to be honest) to be followed by jug's pic on wednesday. The Adhikari who used to write from Was'ton in the 80s and 90s makes fewer apperances these days. The pic. of jug is fresh vis-a-vis the profit and loss account appearance. Even Roy Chowdhary'sTOI piece on two diferent days on the biting cold was ok (the first on rickshaw puller much better) and so was the pandit's piece on how a woman was rescued from a metro station probably followed by a piece on homeless brought more blessings to the institution they work for. The Brijwasan effort was timely.
A day later as I took another bus came the news that all big shots had assembled at BJP's Gadkari's place to take stock of the ground situation and the govt. They wanted to corner the govt on bofors. But the enlightened view is the govt is already cornered and on the verge of disappearing if more attempts are made to corner and contrive is made. Perhaps the cornered ruling benches best illustration is the poor and pathetic defence given by Diggy when the all pervasive apna bhai Raj asked him to show any hint of showing the same degree of vehemence towards fundamentalists in minority community which he has so far reserved for fundamentalists in majority community. This Diggy wanted to open up a front against that Advani something few would endorse at this stage. Perhaps the Bihar verdict hasn't been enough for the likes of Diggy to refrain from indulging in votebank politics. And all these were my points of deliberations in the bus ride with most agreeing that Ludhiana Ka Ladka is something the party should avoid fielding if the party has to have a moderate face. Abhishek, Moily, Jayanthi, Pranab, Antony,Chidambaram, Khursheed and Dwivedi are acceptable faces.