Life isn’t Irritating

       Let me introduce you to a character known as Raghu Chaturvedi. For him, life is about how one survives in the rush of life. He is a learned man who did his Masters in Philosophy but struggling for a living. Besides these facts, he is a level-headed person and very much contented and satisfied with himself. Maybe that is why he had no problem when he was offered the job of a Bus Driver with a very low income.

       It was Sunday morning when he along with the bus conductor had to wait for a few passengers in Munirka, Delhi. Early winter mornings in Delhi makes a person feel to stay warm in their own houses but for Raghu and the conductor, Ram, they had to adapt themselves within the tourist bus itself. Inside the bus, Ram speaks, “It’s already 7 am. Four passengers are supposed to reach by 6:30 am. Such wastage of time. I don’t feel like wasting even a second and that too in a place like Delhi.” Raghu agrees to what Ram spoke and harshly replies back, “For how long will these morons make us wait? We have to pick other passengers. Time is very important in a metropolitan city such as Delhi which is similar to money. Perhaps that is why, people don’t like wasting money.”

       Both of them come across an ascetic who was wandering like a recluse. When the ascetic saw the bus which was scheduled to leave for Agra, he told Raghu and Ram, “Will you please take me till Vrindavan?” Ram replied, “Pay 600 rupees for your ticket.” The ascetic said, “I don’t have money for the ticket but I can work as an assistant conductor to you. I hope you and the driver do not have any problem.” Both Raghu and Ram yelled together, “Get out. Do we look like clowns to you? We don’t entertain a person like you who wants to have a free ride. Just get out.” A scuffle took place between Ram and the ascetic and it had to be handled by Raghu. The ascetic lost hope and thought for a second that it is pointless arguing with them and he went away.

       Later, a lady came approaching them and said, “Can you take me till Nehru Place? I will pay you 5 rupees.” Raghu told the lady, “What do you think why are we here for? To entertain people like you as clowns. Go and get another bus. This is a tourist bus scheduled to go to Agra and we have passengers who have tickets with them. Tell me if you have tickets, if you don’t have, don’t even dream about it.” The lady had to ultimately pass by.

       Raghu tells Ram, “These morons want to go for a free ride. Those four passengers are yet to come and we came across two strange characters, an ascetic and a lady. People these days are a smart lot. The first one came and was even ready to be our assistant. And the lady wanted to go to Nehru Place paying 5 rupees to us. No matter for how long we have to wait for those four passengers. We came across two crazy people so far in the morning.” Ram laughs at what Raghu says.Ram tells Raghu, “We have to come across such kind of people in life. Life is interesting, it isn’t irritating. Meeting such kind of characters do irritate us but finally, we just laugh away.” After some time around 7:30 am in the morning, both Raghu and Ram receive their four passengers. Raghu starts the tourist bus and from here begins their journey to Agra. While on the way, Raghu thinks for a while about life, its predicament and the journey above all.