Bus kya!!

The rain clouds gather for one more pouring. Shanta has to quickly do away with her chores. Cursing the rain, she washes the utensils. Every time it rains for a couple of hours, the adjacent nallah overflows to her shanty and it stinks really badly. Her mumblings fade against the gruesome noise of the Borivilli local.

Ever since Ganpat, her husband died in a mill accident, she makes her end meet by working as a maid. Her only son Krishna whom she affectionately calls ‘Balya’ is not home yet. She murmurs ‘Chatri bhi nahin lekar gaya’. Rain drops playfully dance on the surface of the water stored in the leaking pail.

Balya has to find some work now. He has to support his aging mother. He has been an average student and he gleefully says ‘HSC pass’ to every one who enquires about his educational status. He knows he has to earn some money. The money that comes in won’t suffice. Rent or ‘bhada’ as Jagga says, has to be paid every month for the portion of the slum they occupy. They used to stay up in the worker’s quarters prior to Ganpat’s death.

Jagdam or Jagga as his people call him is the local ‘daada’ with strong local political connections. Some of the local traders insist that sometimes he extorts money under the disguise of festival celebration. But come fire or storm, he is the messiah.

The rain has finally decreased to a drizzle and today the nallah has not overflowed. This has saved her pain of cleaning her place. Just then, Balya rushes inside with a cut out of the local evening paper. He is dripping and his clothes stick on to his body. Shanta starts to dry his hair using her pallu. ‘Aur bheeg, bheemar ho gaya, toh daacter ko deena ke liye paise nahin hain mere paas.’
Balya showing the newspaper cut out, replies ‘Paise nahin, Rupaiye aayenge. The cut out is actually a recruitment drive on behalf of BEST, Mumbai city’s public transport service, seeking drivers. They seem to rejoice for a moment that there actually is light at the end of the tunnel. But Shanta sighs ‘Par apna pahunch nahin hain’. Balya is quick to react ‘Jagga!!’.

The next morning, Jagga comes for his monthly collection, and that is when Shanta asks him for help. Jagga at his usual panache is assertive. ‘Bade sahib ko kharcha paani dena padega’. Shanta agrees and the deal is made.

Within two months, an appointment cum training letter from BEST finds it way to Shanta’s kholi. New uniforms stiched and Balya is now a BEST driver, a government employee. You should see the sparkle is Shanta’s eyes. Now her only dream is to see Balya married.
She’s all of praise for Jagga, who is at his modest best to ensure that everything happened according to His will.

A few months in to training, Balya receives a progress card and confirmation letter announcing that he has been posted on Route. 405.
Pedas are distributed and Shanta claims ‘asli ghee se bane hain’. The next morning on the first day of his actual job, Shanta performs a puja. Balya seeks blessings from his late father and leaves for his new job. ‘Chalta hoon,maai. He calls her ‘maai and today it felt as he was leaving on a long journey. She sends him off with a satisfied teary eyed look.

It is dusk and she’s awaiting Balya. Just then, Pandey the neigbourhood grocery owner yells that there has been a bomb blast in a Mumbai bus. Shanta’s heart misses a beat. She begins to tremble. More news flows in. ‘Route 405’, ‘40 killed, including driver’. The world in front of her blackens and Shanta collapses to the ground.

Jagga looks skywards and sighs ‘Bus kya!!’. There is no answer.