Scintillations 2019 Scintillations_2019 | Page 52

Being our first ever encounter with this ‘ritual’, any blunder would have terrified us to the core. An inopportune friend of mine committed this blunder! She had forgotten her ID card and boarded the bus. Had I been in that situation, I would have jumped to the sky and freaked out! But this friend of mine approached Anna and told him that, her father is getting the ID card and asked if he could wait till he brings it. Usually, stopping for one person might not seem possible. But Anna didn’t object; rather, he parked the bus in one corner and waited patiently for 20 mins till the ID card arrived. If this incident does not convince you, then let me give you another anecdote. Again, during my first year, owing to “technical” difficulties, we had to shift buses.We got dropped off mid-way and were contemplating multiple means to reach home (final destination!). If this doesn’t seem enough, then the biggest thing he does,  according to me, is when the college timings are extended. At times whenever we had had to leave college late, the entire process of reaching home becomes so hectic that, you go home directly for dinner. In those situations, what we really miss to notice is the fact that Anna has to reach home only after dropping off the last person in the bus and that his house is quite far away from the shed. For Anna, it is just his duty to drop and pick us safely, but little does he know about the great service that he has been doing for so long! Not just my route driver, but every other bus driver works painstakingly hard and shows no strain and pain on their faces. They don’t expect anything in return, but a wholehearted “Thank You Anna” would suffice and will make his day! The angel in disguise,our saviour,”bus anna” coincidentally had come by that road and stopped the bus to pick us all up right from the middle of the road! Well, it was not his job to pick just a bunch of us whilst he was going to park the bus in the shed. ANJANA R. 43