He was worried that day. He had a son and a daughter. Both were married and had kids. His was a happy family. Whenever, he was not in high spirits, he used to think about his grandchildren and that used to light up his face, but not that day! He was far more worried. This worry was not the one that’s usual – at least not the one that vanishes with a mere ‘feel-good-thought’ like the thought of his grandson picking his moustache or his granddaughter calling him by his name (even though she doesn’t know to make a complete sentence yet) or his 50-year old wife wearing Jeans for the first time just because their granddaughter once picked up a jeans and showed it to her grandma – they all thought she wanted to see her grandma in jeans.
Today, he was worried about the girl. Why did she not come today? He waited for 15 minutes at the stop for her. For the past 3 years he was used to seeing her everyday – at least everyday he worked and she had college. He made sure he knew the holidays for the girl’s college and tried to match them with his (a privilege not given to his children/ grandchildren). It did not work when there was a vacation at college though. He did not change the shift timings just for her. He worked the same shift for the past 3 years. It started on that one day where he had to change his shift to substitute for a person who retired the day before. He felt all alone at home as his daughter had just been married and left town (Now, she is back in town though). He was attached to his daughter, but he always imagined this girl also to be his own daughter. He would wait for the girl whenever she was late. He used to wait for that smile on her face. He used to start his duty everyday with that smile followed by a pleasant ‘Good Morning’ and end the day with her smile followed by a ‘Good Night’!
Before this day - the day his shift was changed; the day she asked the bus to stop by waving her hand for the first time - he was a worried man. He used to scold and swear on people who used to drive irregularly. Something he stopped doing just because he did not want her to feel embarrassed. On the first day, she had waved her hand to stop the bus, he was preoccupied thinking about his daughter and suddenly a pedestrian crossed the road; he ‘had to’ stop the bus; she got in and smiled thankfully and that smile changed him completely. He would have stopped the bus, scolded the pedestrian through the window and then would have driven the rest of the trip with an attitude and feeling that is superior to everyone had that been any other day. Not on that day; he fell in love with that smile. He smiled back to the girl and he did not stop to fight with the pedestrian neither did he scold him through the window. In fact, he had thanked him many times through these years. This girl made him forget his daughter’s departure from his house and he had given this girl the same place as his daughter, in his heart, over a period of time. She used to sit in the seat right behind him for the whole trip and used to converse with him anything and everything in the world. He knew everything about her college and she knew everything about his family. She had, in fact, suggested the name for his granddaughter, which he liked; his daughter and his son-in-law loved.
But again today, she was not in the bus. If she was not coming the next day, she would have informed him. What had happened to her?
He had a bad day. After 3 years, he shouted at people on the way and swore at them. As soon as he left the bus at the depot, he went to the place where the girl takes the bus daily. She had told him once that she stayed in the ‘fourth house to the left’ in the lane. He sometimes used to see her walk safely to the house (when there were no other passengers in the bus to avoid them getting late). So, he knew the house. He did not worry about what her parents would think that a stranger has come to visit their daughter. He knew that her parents know him as ‘Driver Uncle’, but they did not know him by face or by name.
He rang the bell. She opened the door. He was happy to see the girl stand in front of him with the same smile. She was pleasantly surprised on seeing him and immediately apologized for not showing up that morning. She explained that her mom was not feeling well by the time she came home the day before. And she was awake the whole night. She thought of coming to the bus stop and informing him, but she had slept in the chair while thinking.
After some small talk and a hot tea with her parents, he walked back to his house thinking about what his daughter and granddaughter would be doing at that time.
~R-Square
