Monday, October 03, 2005

On the 8:58

She sits in the same seat everyday. Her hair is scanty and red, her clothes are bulky and old. She chats with the driver about her cats and the weather. I call her Mrs. Bella Figg (she's probably what the Harry Potter character Mrs.Figg looks like).
There's the intriguing guy who looks like Jason Lee's character Jeff Bebe in Almost Famous. Except for the glasses. Bebe didn't wear glasses. Intriguing Guy never looks up from his book, not even to catch me staring at him fantasizing about him.
And here she is, a striking unforgettably beautiful woman if there ever was one. She has straight blonde hair that is always let loose, and which reaches just below her perfectly cute butt, and she carries a bright red bag, as if she's afraid people won't notice her otherwise.
Mr.Eyebrows has just entered. He looks different everyday, and I suspect he does something to his eyebrows to change his look daily. It's like a new hairdo...I suspect its the only hair on him he can do anything with, sadly.
The oriental-looking lesbian couple are always dressed in black. They don't say much to each other, but hold hands and occasionally giggle softly at a private joke.
Next stop, and two more people enter.
She looks happy in her pink corduroys and white Girl Power tee, and smells of bubblegum and a fourteen-year old's optimism. He could not have been more different. His clothes and tatooes and hairdo spell G-O-T-H, with black leather and chains and gel. His discman screams adolescent angst for three surrounding rows to hear.

And so we all sit here quietly for the next ten minutes. Just for a little while, we are all together, headed in the same direction - Bella, Bebe, Blondie, Brow-Man, the Babes, Bubblegum and Bad-ass. And me. Only to get off at whatever stop life picks for us to continue our individual journeys alone.

6 Comments:

Blogger Parth said...

You forgot the girl who doesn't steal glimpses. She collects them. Flitting from face to face, body to body till they have shared a little bit of themselves: half knowingly, half unknowingly. And then she gets off the bus, clutching her purse, collecting the spoils of the day, reassured that life is good

11:35 PM  
Blogger aparna said...

:-) i do this too. observe and wonder... nice!

1:40 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i take the 8:41 and observe people too. do that for 55 mins, sometimes standing all the way. you get to know a lot about people by what they choose to do with that time- read, listen to music, sleep, share their seat,or not, how they react to different people-school kids, older women, pregnant women, their own friends. seems like we have a lot in common. ;)

5:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Doesn’t this remind you of your Xavier days!!!! It sure reminds me of my 11:30 - 8 limited ….to Podar.... We were the noisy bunch.... everyone shushed us. …Glared in disgust.... even the bus conductor !!!!

6:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hmm..Parth, how come you know so much about this girl, huh? ;) Ok fine, I know..you like to watch people. You're VERY good at it.
Aparna, it's interesting, huh? The weaving of imaginary stories about these ppl? Maybe somehow your post inspired this post!
Tarun, can I sit this one out? Sorry! Just no inspiration in 23-5! Pick another number then.
Adele, sweetie...you have a longer and more interesting ride than I do, but INFINITELY more tiring! Thanks for traveling with me on the bus of life, though :)
Sudha, tum zinda ho??? Ya, college was something else, wasn't it?! We never noticed ppl on the train though, we were too wrapped up in our little gang having fun. Until the occasional machiwaali got too close ;)
RT

8:14 PM  
Blogger aparna said...

you have been tagged girl!

10:14 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home