Diffused by a laugh??

Yaaaawwwnnnnnnn !!! Another Monday morning. And another bout of Monday morning blues :( !

The morning did not exactly start on a bright note – woke up late (I actually shut off the alarm and toppled back to sleep, something very uncharacteristic of me !), no electricity, burnt my breakfast in my haste, discovered that there were a few veggies missing to prepare lunch (and I agonized for a whole hour the previous night regarding the lunch), could not iron my outfit, one of my slippers was missing and I spent ten minutes looking for it to find it amidst our flower pots (must be the handiwork of our cat).

It was a very subdued Chitu who boarded the bus to Majestic. I guess God decided to be kind (thanks to all the Maska I dole out for him every day) ‘coz the bus was full save for one double-seater. I immediately caught the window-seat and was soon lost in day-dreaming – something which I often do a lot especially on a Monday, when I sensed something huge coming towards me from the corner of my eye. The next moment, I found myself squashed between the window and a very fat lady (FL).

I stared at her and then behind her – were there no seats available other than this one? Alas no !! My irritation mounted by the second, and reached a peak when she made herself comfortable (by squashing me more). I could no longer keep quite and blurted out:

(Translated version in English)

YT(Yours truly) : Hey… could you please move to your left? I barely have breathing space !

FL: (very rudely) : Arrey… this is not your Father’s bus. Swalpa adjust maaDkoLi ( I guess this does not need any translation). If you cannot, you are always free to find some other seat!

The sheer injustice of her response rankled me – I paid for this journey, so am I not entitled to a comfortable journey? Unfortunately she did not seem to share my sentiments, all the while glaring at me, as if daring me to argue with her.

Suddenly, the funny side of the whole situation stuck me – my friends would have loved to see me like this - sandwiched like a errrr... sandwich. Just picturing this made me laugh aloud. FW stared at me and - wonder of wonders – a reluctant smile tugged at her lips. I hastily assured her that I was laughing at the situation (God’s providence?) and not at her. She too let down her guard to discuss all the problems faced by her, public apathy being the foremost. “Just because we are fat, it does not mean that we do not feel hurt. We have to bear everything from rude comments to rejection.”

I was ashamed into thinking “How could I be so insensitive? Am I so much into that ‘Aham’ factor that I fail to notice the feelings of people around me?” My train of thought brought forth an apology which was quickly waved away with a big smile.

We parted at Majestic – she to her connecting bus, me to my office-bus. I settled myself comfortably in one of the two-seaters and was soon immersed listening to Radio City (Manna De Special :)).

“Excuse me, would you mind me sitting here?” I heard this voice somewhere above me and opened my eyes to see …… yet another fat lady.

Sigh….. some things never change !