I met Bus at last! Meeting him made us all feel how small we actually are. We realized that we have achieved nothing in life when we saw what he has achieved. It's sad that we consider every small thing that we do as an achievement when there are people who silently do great things. True. Empty vessels make more noise.
Chaitra and I were walking aimlessly in 3rd cross when I suddenly told her that Bus' wife passed away. She said she knew about it and it was indeed very sad to have happened to her. She was a great lady. Her face reminded me of a calm ocean. She always smiled at everyone and never interfered in anyones business. Her death was a great loss to all of us. Then I told her that we should go and meet Bus now, and it's been a while since I saw him. Even she realized then that it's been years since we all met Bus. So we decided to go and meet him. We went to Bhavya's home and asked her if she wanted to join us. She immediately agreed.
It's strange the way we come up with weird names. Some people in LIC Colony call me Goni :D .. I don't know how this name originated.. then we call Chaitra -'Chitte'.. as in butterfly.. And we call Mr. Rao- 'Bus'. When we were young (I mean REALLY young.. I was in kindergarten and many people who played with us are now happily married), we used to play this game called 'chain-cut' . One evening when all of us, about 10-11 of us, were playing this game, a man about the age of 87-88 years, came up to us and said jokingly, " Jaga bidi, jaga bidi. bus bartaide.. bus bartaide" He meant, make way, make way. There's a bus coming along! that's how the name 'Bus' originated and replaced Mr. Rao.
I had to give the history of the name. Otherwise, some people would be wondering why I call this person Bus.
Bhavani, Pavan, Arun and Aparna were standing in front of Pavan's home and talking. Chitte and I went up to them and asked them if they wanted to join us to bus' home. Arun and Pavan said they have some work to do and hence cannot come. Aparna said she'd love to come and meet him. Bhavani who is getting married on the 27th of this month said she'd definitely want to join us and invite Bus for her weeding. So, Chitte, Bhavya, Bhavani, Aparna and I set out to Bus' home.
We rang the bell and Bus' daughter opened the door for us. She was extremely pleased to meet all of us. She led us to his room where he was sitting and listening to music. Initially he didn't recognize any of us. We introduced ourselves and then he said he could remember all of us and fondly called us his 'birthday pals' .
Bus had made a list of all our birthdays and every year, WITHOUT FAIL, he'd come to all our homes to wish us, give us his blessings, give us a greeting card (He made the greeting card himself), Make us wear some of his hand-made earrings and chains and he'd sing a song for us and go home. He'd do this EVERY year. That's why we are his Birthday Pals. It's really sad that we never did anything for his birthday. I felt ashamed of myself when he called us all his birthday pals. We are all so selfish .. so consumed by everything happening around us that we hardly realize that there is a world outside our world. I felt hopeless, and I was disgusted with myself because I didn't even know when his birthday is. I still don't know when it is.
He switched off his music player and asked us all to come to the living room. We went to the living room and sat. He sat on a chair where everybody could see him. We asked him if he could remember all of us. He said , "Of course, I remember all of you. I remember you in particular. Remember the bus accident .. when the bus came and knocked you out. You were in the hospital and your mother was hysterical" He looked at me and told this. He mistook me for my sister. But I didn't want to make him feel bad and quietly accepted that it was indeed me. He then asked us all if we could spare him just 5 minutes. We told him we have all the time in the world and yes, we could spare him more that 5 minutes. He asked us again. This is how humble he is. We said yes, we can spare him 5 minutes. He went in to his room and started fishing for something. That's when his daughter, who was sitting with us all along, told us that he had turned 100 this year. Chitte knew his age. As for me, I was ASTOUNDED! 100 years of age is not a joke! I knew he was somewhere near the 100th mark. But 100 on the dot.. I was spellbound! Even at this age, he has so much energy in him. He is a person of great spirit and humility. He came out of his room, clutching something in his hand. He asked us all to stand. We stood. He asked us all to dance to the tune he was about to play. We were amazed! The thing he was clutching in his hand turned out to be a mouth organ. He started to play it. We held each other's hands and started dancing. It was such a beautiful experience! (Mind you, I hate dancing. But I found it amusing that day!) He played the instrument for about 2 minutes. We then applauded!! We all sat and then he thanked us all for making some time and coming and meeting him. We thanked him and his daughter and left.
This experience, however small it may sound/look to you, left me shaken. I was profoundly influenced by this small rendezvous with Bus. I am a chronic procrastinator .. I know it sounds terrible, but I am horribly lazy. But after I met Bus and saw how active he is even at the age of 100, I felt ashamed of myself. I am just 17 and he's 100 ... sigh!
Chaitra and I were walking aimlessly in 3rd cross when I suddenly told her that Bus' wife passed away. She said she knew about it and it was indeed very sad to have happened to her. She was a great lady. Her face reminded me of a calm ocean. She always smiled at everyone and never interfered in anyones business. Her death was a great loss to all of us. Then I told her that we should go and meet Bus now, and it's been a while since I saw him. Even she realized then that it's been years since we all met Bus. So we decided to go and meet him. We went to Bhavya's home and asked her if she wanted to join us. She immediately agreed.
It's strange the way we come up with weird names. Some people in LIC Colony call me Goni :D .. I don't know how this name originated.. then we call Chaitra -'Chitte'.. as in butterfly.. And we call Mr. Rao- 'Bus'. When we were young (I mean REALLY young.. I was in kindergarten and many people who played with us are now happily married), we used to play this game called 'chain-cut' . One evening when all of us, about 10-11 of us, were playing this game, a man about the age of 87-88 years, came up to us and said jokingly, " Jaga bidi, jaga bidi. bus bartaide.. bus bartaide" He meant, make way, make way. There's a bus coming along! that's how the name 'Bus' originated and replaced Mr. Rao.
I had to give the history of the name. Otherwise, some people would be wondering why I call this person Bus.
Bhavani, Pavan, Arun and Aparna were standing in front of Pavan's home and talking. Chitte and I went up to them and asked them if they wanted to join us to bus' home. Arun and Pavan said they have some work to do and hence cannot come. Aparna said she'd love to come and meet him. Bhavani who is getting married on the 27th of this month said she'd definitely want to join us and invite Bus for her weeding. So, Chitte, Bhavya, Bhavani, Aparna and I set out to Bus' home.
We rang the bell and Bus' daughter opened the door for us. She was extremely pleased to meet all of us. She led us to his room where he was sitting and listening to music. Initially he didn't recognize any of us. We introduced ourselves and then he said he could remember all of us and fondly called us his 'birthday pals' .
Bus had made a list of all our birthdays and every year, WITHOUT FAIL, he'd come to all our homes to wish us, give us his blessings, give us a greeting card (He made the greeting card himself), Make us wear some of his hand-made earrings and chains and he'd sing a song for us and go home. He'd do this EVERY year. That's why we are his Birthday Pals. It's really sad that we never did anything for his birthday. I felt ashamed of myself when he called us all his birthday pals. We are all so selfish .. so consumed by everything happening around us that we hardly realize that there is a world outside our world. I felt hopeless, and I was disgusted with myself because I didn't even know when his birthday is. I still don't know when it is.
He switched off his music player and asked us all to come to the living room. We went to the living room and sat. He sat on a chair where everybody could see him. We asked him if he could remember all of us. He said , "Of course, I remember all of you. I remember you in particular. Remember the bus accident .. when the bus came and knocked you out. You were in the hospital and your mother was hysterical" He looked at me and told this. He mistook me for my sister. But I didn't want to make him feel bad and quietly accepted that it was indeed me. He then asked us all if we could spare him just 5 minutes. We told him we have all the time in the world and yes, we could spare him more that 5 minutes. He asked us again. This is how humble he is. We said yes, we can spare him 5 minutes. He went in to his room and started fishing for something. That's when his daughter, who was sitting with us all along, told us that he had turned 100 this year. Chitte knew his age. As for me, I was ASTOUNDED! 100 years of age is not a joke! I knew he was somewhere near the 100th mark. But 100 on the dot.. I was spellbound! Even at this age, he has so much energy in him. He is a person of great spirit and humility. He came out of his room, clutching something in his hand. He asked us all to stand. We stood. He asked us all to dance to the tune he was about to play. We were amazed! The thing he was clutching in his hand turned out to be a mouth organ. He started to play it. We held each other's hands and started dancing. It was such a beautiful experience! (Mind you, I hate dancing. But I found it amusing that day!) He played the instrument for about 2 minutes. We then applauded!! We all sat and then he thanked us all for making some time and coming and meeting him. We thanked him and his daughter and left.
This experience, however small it may sound/look to you, left me shaken. I was profoundly influenced by this small rendezvous with Bus. I am a chronic procrastinator .. I know it sounds terrible, but I am horribly lazy. But after I met Bus and saw how active he is even at the age of 100, I felt ashamed of myself. I am just 17 and he's 100 ... sigh!
