Commute home

I get out of my dimly lit stuffy office after staring at a computer screen for nine hours straight and slowly make my way to the local bus stand. I wait for the bus to arrive praying that I should get a seat to sit, eventually the bus arrives and I get on.

The bus is packed to the limit, I struggle to even stand up straight, people are pushing and shoving to keep themselves from falling over, there are easily sixty people in the bus which is slightly tilted to one side as there are people hanging out of the doors. I can feel the people’s breath on my neck as our sweaty bodies rub against each other.

Someone is drunk, I instantly turn my neck the other way to avoid his breath and keep hoping that he will get off at the next stop but there is no respite from the crowd cause if four people get off, ten people get on shouting “climb up, move forward”. The conductor displays superhuman powers as he makes his way though the crowd from one end of the bus to the other as he swiftly collects money and deals out tickets. A physicist would have been bewildered to see him blatantly disobeying friction.I wonder how he gets through his day surrounded by so many people.

Every now and then, a seat is vacated and I see the look that Gollum has when he sees the ring in the people’s eyes. I imagine them saying “my precious” as they pounce upon it.

It is very hot and humid, I hold my breath as the bus crosses a river to keep myself from passing out due to the stench but am grateful for the cool breeze that soothes me.

We have turned our rivers into large sewers and our oceans into garbage bins, anyone who says climate change is not real can kiss my sweat soaked ass.

My thoughts are interrupted as a seat is vacated and I quickly occupy it and heave a sigh of relief as my legs were just about to collapse.
Sitting is so much safer except when the butt of the person standing next to you comes dangerously close to your face, looking out I see people sitting their in cars, mostly one person per car enjoying the ‘conditioned air’ in their cars. Pure air which was free for all has now become a commodity that only the rich have access to.

I blame the population for all the problems. I get why people suddenly go crazy and become mass murderers for no apparent reason, society can break you very easily if you let it. My stop arrives and I get off.

For the last leg of my commute I get on a ‘share auto’ which is a slightly modified auto that runs on a predefined route with regular stops like a bus, the driver is malnourished and his body is bent out of shape as he sits on the very edge of his seat so that two more people can sit on either side of him, he keeps on calling ‘ECR ECR’ which is the route that the auto is going to take, his voice is hoarse from all the shouting.

I am now sitting in the auto with five other people, after a few stops a woman with three kids and a baby gets on, alarm bells go off in my mind “ This is the problem, stop making so many babies.” I felt intense hate for all the people who are pushing out babies into the world at a ridiculous rate.

The auto stops at a traffic signal, the baby starts coughing and crying due to irritation caused by the smoke and dust. The mother in an attempt to calm the baby tries showing him all the bright lights. I notice the driver looking back longingly, he also wishes to have a kid someday.

My stop arrives, the auto drives off with the driver still shouting “ECR ECR” in his hoarse voice and I turn around to go home disgusted at the society that we have created.

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