The Journey

According to my friend I am the most predictable, unpredictable person she knows. I have some news for her I am the most predictable unpredictable person I know! The word that would be apt here is I am an enigma to me if that is possible. But then I do the most nuttiest things at least when I ever I get the opportunity.

To put it all in sequence after three days of doing work for the half way home, they like to call it helping them with matters relating to computers and not really working? I don't care! There is a financial reward and that fucking matters! I had decided that I was going to visit the nearby town of Wattala today and spend the day there and just explore the town. It is now a bustling commercial hub and though I have passed it so many times I cannot remember really walking around and seeing the place. It was a small town so many years ago and it is en route to the airport. It still has a road called the old Negombo road and I can vaguely remember travelling down that road when I was a kid.

I was to accompany a Resident of the half way home to his Bank and then do my work at my Bank, help him with some chores and see that he was sent back while I took off to where ever my fancy determined. Everything was arranged and the two of us left the home. It was uneventful, but I really got to know this guy for the first time. I decide to take him and the driver of our Three Wheeler to one of the traditional old fashioned tea boutiques of yester year that one stumbles upon occasionally. Tea in places like this is served with sweet condensed milk and if you have it without sugar it has a taste that is unique. While having my tea some young students from a nearby tutory came in, I presume during their morning break, for snack and soft drinks. I reminisced of the time I was a student of that age and how similar my outlook and attitude was accept to me their sense of dress was atrocious. But I guess the same would have prevailed about mine by others at that time.

Well I saw my companions back to the half way home and set off on my own to explore and seek new places to venture into as it were. I ambled in the hot sun observing the girls in particular noting what was the fashion of today while getting a fare share of inquiring looks in turn and just gazing at what was going on around me, in short just soaking the atmosphere. I was passing a huge supermarket and decide to go in and and have a look see. I went in,flirted with a counter girl, enjoyed the air conditioned comfort, had a cappuccino and noted with amusement that the aisle marked Baby Products had gent’s ties on display. Reasonably priced!

It was almost lunch time so I decided to cross the road to the restaurant I had decided to have my lunch. Level crossings in Sri Lanka are a night mare for even people who use them daily. I had just returned from Singapore where crossing the street is a walk in the park. I came to the faded zebra crossing and for a moment I panicked! The traffic was horrendous and there were all kinds of vehicles around the crossing, some were on it, and there were huge trucks belching black fumes and honking away, not to mention assorted vehicles weaving in and out of the area designated for pedestrians. I considered hopping into a three wheeler and getting across that way?? I think it was just a fleeting thought, when something happened. The next thing I knew I had set out dodging bumpers and with my hand indicating my intention to oncoming traffic and was at the divider of the road. I paused took a deep breath and crossed to the other side. I had done it! Of course my legs were kinda weak but I took another deep breath and walked to a sidewalk fruit juice stall. I sat gingerly and reached for a cigarette. You are not supposed to smoke in public places but there were no cops around. I had a coke and smile after about five minutes.

The restaurant was just a block away and I walked to it and sat down in air-conditioned comfort. The meal was excellent and I enjoyed the service, had a chat with the guy serving me while he gave me the run down on what was available including the VIP lounge on the second floor that allowed smoking. The prices were pretty reasonable and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I suddenly decided, let me get back to the village and go to the beach. So I paid up, got to the street and then it struck me, I hadn't been in bus for so long and I had been wanting to do so for some time now. Why not today? The bus stop was close by, I knew the route number and I was aware that one comes by every half hour and it would be drop me at top of the road leading to the half way home. So bus it was goanna be!

The bus came by and I got in from the back clutching my duffle bag with my hand reaching out for the overhead railing when the bus took off like a missile. I cant remember how I grabbed the railing overhead but I had and froze gripping on to it and somehow other grabbing the same railing with my other hand. I was just about six inches away from the entrance to the bus. My heart literally stopped! The bus came to a screeching halt and just gave me enough time to move a foot or so forward. The bus turned to the left and from then on I was hanging on for dear life! I can’t explain the barrage of emotions and extent of fear that gripped me. I never knew this combination existed. All I could think was fuck this is a baaaad idea! I gripped the railing so hard that my nails were biting into my palms. The pain was intense but there was no way I was going to let go. The bus had turned into the road that leads to the junction at the Negombo Canal. The road we were travelling on, breaking all speed records, at least to me, is not very wide and I am very familiar with the terrain. I have driven fast in my time, clocking one hour bridge to bridge Colombo to Kandy but this Driver was a league of his own. The way he manipulated the medium size bus along this road was unbelievable! He was blaring his horn and even in my shell shocked state I was wondering how on earth the other passengers were quite comfortably swaying with this roller coaster and some were old folks!!! If there was anything I was sure was I was insane to have tried this bloody stunt.

I was seeing the inside of a bus all by myself after twenty nine odd years and I used to give my mother heart attacks when I used to run and jump onto moving buses without thinking twice. But that was another dimension and another time. In all this turmoil the Conductor comes along and asks for the ticket money. I told him is Sinhala “ Condosthara Mahathaya pena nadda mama wevulanawa mata Sali ganda vidiyak ne, kakule abadayak” Transalation “ Mr. Conductor can’t you see I am trembling I can’t take the money out now I have a problem with my legs” This guys was a class act! He hollered to the guy sitting near me demanding that he vacate the seat and gives it to me while announcing to all in the bus that I was a disabled person! The seated passenger meekly got up and very gallantly helped me to the seat. I wasn't lying, a minute more and my legs would have given away. I sat down breathing a sigh of relief as the conductor inquired as to where I was getting down and assured me he will come later for the money and drop me off safely.

The Driver took us to the junction in exactly seven minutes and thirty three seconds. I have been down this road using various other forms of transport and even in light traffic it takes about twenty to thirty minutes. We turned off into the road adjoining the canal bank. The bus then waits a good ten minutes and suddenly we are now in the hands of the Winner of the Annual All Island Good Driver Competition, who's only ambition is to ensure that his passengers enjoy the scenic view of the dirty canal! I was curious as why the suicidal drive? It turned out that if the bus doesn’t reach the junction at its allotted time the Owner gets fined! I was enjoying the the ride now and glanced at the people who use public transport. It was a mixture of the highly fashion conscious youngsters, smartly dressed men and women and some ladies who were very elegantly attired. There were an assorted bunch of both sexes who looked like slobs and a few romantics thrown in for good measure. The only experience that I found irritating was a Woman who shoved her crotch against my shoulder. But this is public transport and the next time who knows who will be shoving what at whom! Fortunately she wasn’t tall and seat wasn’t meant for a midget.

The Conductor collected his money, I thought it was twenty rupees but it was eighteen and he judiciously returned the balance and saw me off the bus as promised. I made my way to the shop I purchase cigarettes from and sat down. I tried to lite up but my hands were shaking so much I couldn’t. It took me a good half hour to lite a cigarette and took it two of them before I could stand up and walk.

The rest of the day I spent at the beach and came back to the home late in the evening. I learned something and am I glad I did what I did. I proved to myself that my confidence in myself and the determination not to wait but do it when it should be done without postponing is still there. I know if I didn’t do what I did when the impulse came upon me I probably wouldn't have done it at all. It has also given me the right motivation to put the effort on my fitness and be focused so that in the shortest possible time I regain my overall body condition so that a swaying bus for one is a natural for me.

As my friend puts it I am like a child and she is so right. I'm learning not the new but the old tricks that I have forgotten and like a child I am enjoying the experience and reveling in it.