Seat No:16

"Prasad! Its already 9…You haven’t packed your bags yet and neither have you had your dinner. I'm afraid you wont make it to the bus station in time.." my mother’s concerned voice from the kitchen reached my ears cutting through the walls in between. It was the third time she was repeating this and poor mum was losing her calm. " Don’t worry! Will get ready in a sec.." I shot back even as I continued in my cell " Yes..You idiot! Come here in 5 minutes! Ok..Bye!" and with that I disconnected the line and sent the cell flying across the room expecting it to land on my pillow…and to my utter dismay and horror it missed it by a few miles and landed with a loud "THUD!!" in the dustbin. "Now what was that?" the voice from the kitchen came to my ears…

"Nothing! Just gimme a cup of milk..will you? I will have something to crunch on the way" That brought mum steaming into my room. She held a steaming cup of noodles in her hand " Gulp this before you leave" she ordered and left me staring at the cup. I managed to gulp down the noodles and went hunting for my jean. " Now where on earth is my Jean?" I lamented loudly as I dug deep into the pile of clothes on my chair, which bore a close resemblance to the garbage dump outside our gate! I changed my clothes, packed my bag and was fishing for my cell in the bin when I heard the screeching sound of tires outside the gate.. "Whrr…Whhoom! Whoom!!" Karthick’s wolf horn called out to me.. "Ya..Coming" my response was louder than the horn!

"Bye mum! Take Care! Will call you up when I reach Chennai."

"Have you taken your ticket"… "Ya! Ya! Bye!"

Whrr…Karthick’s bike engine roared back to life as he activated the electric start… "Whirr…Whoom! Whoom!" and we were off…I turned back and waved to the silhouette of my mum as she stood there waving at me….the Sodium vapour lamp glared behind her.

"Ohhhhh....Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga....."…Screeeeech….Karthick stopped his bike right in the middle of the road… " One more time you come up with the same line, you will find yourself right there in the gutter along with the pigs…swim to the bus station" Karthick was clearly exasperated.. "Relax da…! You are too jealous of my ability to sing. Now off you go…its already started to drizzle…" " Why the hell have you been singing that single line right from the time you left your gates?" Karthick was not going to leave that issue.. "Oh! That…! Well…I saw her yesterday da! When I went to book my ticket. You want to know what the word "Beauty" means?…just take a look at her!"

It had already started to rain and we were a good 5 kms from the bus station. The traffic was heavy. Karthick maneuvered the bike in the narrow gaps available between the cars lined up on the Saradha college road. "So ..that’s the story behind your song..huh" "Yup…and you know what…she is sitting next to me…seat number 16" Through the rear view mirror I saw Karthick muttering some abuses under his breath. "Eight solid hours sitting next to her…Hmmm!"

"Steel City welcomes you…. Passengers are requested….."

"Ok then…Will meet next time. By the way..Convey my regards to…whats her name da?" I asked karthick as I alighted from his bike. "Preetha"

Karthick’s mobile called out to him. "Sweetie calling" was the display.He answered.. " Yes…honey! …Ok…Oh! Sure…Im already there…Yup! Oh..she is going to chennai? Ok ..fine I will drop you on your way back home..Bye sweetheart..!" he hung up with a smile. I looked at him enquiringly.." "Preetha" came the reply. " Ok da machi…Enjoy…C u then" said I. Karthick gave me a smile and said " If you wait for some more time I could introduce you to her" "Hey..kidding. I am already late for the bus" I said. "I will surely meet her next time". "Ok..fine!" said he and "Whrr…Whoom! Whoom!" left. I headed towards my bus, jumping over the small puddles of water which had gathered in the potholes in the flooring. The bus was quite a huge one…a Volvo Executive A/C sleeper. I got in, kept my bag on the side racks and looked around for seat number sixteen and then realized that mine was actually seventeen! Having found it, I sat on the massive seat. I looked through the window, the rains had stopped and there was only mild drizzle. I leaned back on the push back and closed my eyes.

I awoke just in time to see a streak of lightening cut across the night sky. A deep rumble followed. As the sound of rumble subdued, the sound of laughter filled my ears. It was music.

I looked through the window in the direction of the laughter. The power was off and it was pitch black outside. I couldn’t make out much. I strained my eyes and then it happened. Yet another lighting, powerful than the earlier one cut across the sky and for that brief moment…freezed in time… I got a glimpse of her…With a smile brighter than the lighting in the skies she was heading towards the bus. I wiped the water droplets that had condensed on the inside of the glass hoping to get a better view of her. I prayed for another lightening. I peered deep into the dark….

"Excuse Me!" I turned to my left. Standing there was the girl. She wore a pink cotton chudidhar. A cream white duppatta laced her slender neck. Wet hair flowed all the way to her waists. Cute, white glass bangles lined up her long arms. A single flower shaped pendant peeped out from under the duppatta. An injection mark, probably administered to her when she was a little girl, revealed itself through the wet sleeves. A small tear shaped sticker decorated her forehead, the eyebrows arched beautifully upwards and plunged gracefully near the ends. Her eyelashes fluttered in the zephyr and her angelic face was spotless. Her deep, dark eyes contrasted her fair complexion. Two little pink lips quivered everytime she breathed and the tiny mole on the top lip quivered along in rhythm. I looked at those two beautiful…

"Excuse Me!" I kept staring at her. "Excuse Me!" "Err..Who? Me? Yes!!"

"Can you please keep my bag in that rack up there? Its too high for me!"

She handed me a fluffy bag, which had a little teddy dangling from the zip. I placed it next to a dirty looking, rugged, torn bag, which I recognized as mine!. I kept the two bags as close as possible and sat down satisfied.

"Thank you!" She flashed a smile at me and sat down. A whiff of breeze entered through the front door and a few strands of her hair fell over my face. The fragrance mesmerized me. She tried to adjust the knob to activate the push back and in the process her little fingers brushed against my forearm .I felt the hair raise on the back of my neck. She took a bottle of mineral water. Poor girl..Must have walked a long way to the bus station. I gazed at the reflection in the window. She struggled to open the cap…then on opening it tilted her head back and tilted the bottle. Water gushed out from the bottle and entered her mouth. The breeze carried a few droplets and splashed them on my face. I felt drenched. Suddenly she turned around…looked me in the eyes and said…

"Crack..!!Dhoom!" I awoke with a jolt just in time to see a streak of lightening cut across the night sky. A deep rumble followed. As the sound of rumble subdued, the sound of chronic coughing filled my ears. It was still raining outside. I peered out through the window wiping the water that had condensed on the inside of the glass. The power was off and it was pitch black outside. I couldn’t make out much.

"Exxxcuuuse Meeee!" I turned to my left. Standing there was a frail lady aged around eighty. She wore a faded yellow saree. A battered brown shawl laced her wrinkled neck. Her wet hair was tied into a knot. A single bangle, faded with age surrounded her frail arm. A simple yellow thread peeped out from under the shawl.

"Yes" Said I. "Coulld you pllease keep this bagg in that rack up thhere. Its tooo high foor me". I took her plastic bag and kept it next to mine. "Thhankk youu!" she revealed a toothless smile and sat down. I sat down slowly. A whiff of breeze entered through the front door and a few strands of her hair fell over my face. The smell of neem oil made me go dizzy. She strained her eyes to look outside " Preethu?" she called out. Saliva oozed out of her mouth. The breeze carried a few droplets and splashed them on my face. I felt drenched.

I looked out…Lighting cracked and standing outside, with an umbrella in hand, was a girl. She wore a pink chudhidhar and a white duppata laced her neck.

"Bye pattimma…!" She waved. "Catcch an auuto backk home..!" said the old lady… "Ok..pattimma!" As I sat still, watching her, she turned back and headed south. I watched her in the light of the lightening flashing at uneven intervals. She went near a bike…I couldn’t make out the face of the guy in the bike. When she sat in the pillion…he started the bike. "Whrrr…Whoom! Whoom!" and left the busstation.

I slowly fell back on the seat…

"Son..are yoou okkay..? Whyy are you cryying? Here…Have this lollipop…you will feel better.."