One moment, two stories...

I settle myself wondering about getting a good ride home might be possible or not. Me and my friend, lay estranged in a deserted road, I doubt we would even meet a mosquito. We both walk in silence and my friend cursing the blasted travel agency car for losing out over an inhabited land. The driver said he’d call the people of his agency. Both of us said that’ll take us a lifetime. “Crap! You don’t get traffic when you need one.”

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The bus is shaking and well loaded with travelers and outnumbering them is the heavy artillery of goods brought by petty salespeople and stinky fishes. Getting even an inched seat is a miracle. God’s grace, I have the window-sided one. And my only companion was my ipod. The only way I can fall is to break the metal barriers (if they are truly metal, that is). Still vibrating in the seat, my seat-mate seemed to possess an invigorating perfume. You’d rather call him a skunk.

Looking on forwards, there was a stop approaching and a person followed by another waiting to get on the bus. Really, how much do you think Indian vehicles can hold?!

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Phew, scorching sun. Complete lonely road. Puff. Pant. I said, “This should be called THE vacation”. Gulping some of that saliva in me, I rest down the transpired shades of a tree nearby. My friend couldn’t take it anymore. “Damn! We here are breaking our necks to find at least a place where we can find a transport and there in the city you get more than enough of the transport you need. Some vacation! This is getting worse than daily work.”

We continue walking, still cursing under our gasping breaths. After a half hour, we can hear some commotion behind some tall bushes on the right side of the road, where we hear a bus honking. My friend’s face glowed, “Finally, let me run ahead and find if we can get on it.” Dropping the heavy luggage on me, he ran towards it. I couldn’t make out what was happening behind the bushes. I walked patiently and reached the place only to find the bus leaving without me or my friend. “Darn you! This place is worse than a cemetery!”

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“Thank god, those guys were not allowed to enter. I doubt we would even have a place to breathe otherwise.” The bus rattled on much to find another stop after fifteen minutes.

People started pouring in without even hearing the driver’s plea about the number of people already inside. There was a silent fight and two roguishly-looking men spoke in the native language very seriously. I wondered what had happened. Then, all of a sudden the people who had just climbed the bus jumped out and shouted to other people in distance. Slowly, they started running towards the bus. Someone in the bus shouted something in fear and the passengers started dismounting in frenzy. Thinking that it might be better to stay for sometime in the bus and then leave might be a better option, I clutched tightly to my ipod and looking around what was going on.

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Fifteen minutes after the bus left us, we walked and walked till our feet got tired and sat down on a rock as a pitstop. Slowly, we heard noises and saw people running towards us screaming in terror. Both exchanged mystified glances. We could see a haze of grey over the clouds. My friend said, “Maybe a house or a community is burnt. Let’s see what’s happened.”

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The heat! It was getting onto me. Unbearable, searing heat. My skin started burning like molten lava. It was peeling off. My feet couldn’t withstand any longer. I started moving around crazily in the bus. People were screeching at the top of their voices. And yet I could hardly see a hand helping out for me. My senses were gradually losing out.

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We ran towards the source of noise. We even heard a police jeep racing on the road and yet it went past the horror of that noise. Bus on fire! People shouting out, some even trying their best to help people inside the bus. “Holy crap! Did you know we were turned down by that bus a quarter of an hour ago?!”, said my friend. I nodded my head in shocking silence. What if we had been in it. As I watched in horror, I could hear voices from inside the bus. Both of us ran to help them, but as we closed on in the bus, a rogue stopped us and told us to get out in the native language. “Are you insane?! There are people in there. We have to save them!”.

“You cannot do anything now, son”, said an elderly man with a skunk like stink on him. He was weak by small burns, alive nevertheless. He continued, “I was lucky enough to know their native language and even beckoned my fellow passenger to come out. He, on the other hand looked out of the window still wondering what was going on. This is an attack by some people of high power. It was meant to be a bandh today. Although the bus continued without that knowledge.”

“That is no reason to set buses on fire!” enraged my friend. And yet, we stood there with nothing to do but silently cry. After a while, the fire puts down itself and both of us still sat in the vicinity having mixed feelings. Lucky not to be in that fate and worry over the people who were stuck. I walked towards the debris, my friend did not wish to accompany. I stood there gazing at the selfish natures and thinking that one day, even the makers of such a dreadful sin will die. So will we. A tear flowed out as I saw an ipod with the earphone hanging out of one of the burnt windows.