We’ve been taking a couple of buses since we got to India, from Trivandrum to Kovalam and back, from Trivandrum to Kanyakumari and back, from Trivandrum to Alleppey (a breathtaking ride), from Alleppey to Ernakulam, from Palolem to Margao, from Margao to Panaji and back, from Panaji to Old Goa and back, but the most amazing one was in Margao, when we arrive from Panaji and take a city bus from the bus station to the railway station. We’re already used to the fact that, due to our white skin (still after so much sun) people recognize us in the bus stations and direct us to the right bus. Either they ask where we want to go, or they guess and believe me, they guess right.

So, we are in the middle of a bunch of relatively old looking busses and the driver of a small bus in front of us looks at us and asks: “railway?”. We nod and get to the other side of the bus where we meet the ticket person (every bus has one, because tickets are bought inside the bus). The good man takes care that our luggage is properly stored in the driver’s box and sends us to the back of the bus. We’re the only ones standing, but it’s fine since the ride shouldn’t take very long (we hope). We learn then, that the ticket man is the announcer in the same time. He is standing next to the bus and continuously shouting something very loud (perhaps the destination station). And his shouting is successful, because in very short time the bus gets full, and with full, we mean really full. The bus starts slowly and finds its way out from the middle of many other chaotic parked busses. Now we meet the mid-day traffic of Margao, but we’re so used to this already, and to the way of driving, so we don’t care anymore. Instead we care for the fact that our bus, still full, stops quite often and people fit inside somehow. We observe the management skills of the ticket man / announcer who make sure that everybody gets into the bus, takes the bags of the school kids and stores them with ours into the driver’s box, walks around the bus and tells people how they should stay or turn in order to make more space for the others and somehow finds one more spot to get himself into the bus, even if the door doesn’t close anymore entirely.

After about 10 minutes almost everybody gets out, except us of course, so we’re moving to the front since we’re told by a nice school girl that the railway station is close. Some people get in but the bus is not completely full yet so we keep waiting and the announcer keeps shouting. Vera got a seat and I have a perfect place in front of her, right next to the door, so we can have the full experience. Since more and more people get in, I see Vera getting squeezed down and I am almost hanging outside the window. We continue driving and at the next stop we see the ticket man holding a scared little girl in his arms. Her mother is somewhere in the bus, but she needs to get out with the ticket man, every time the bus stops and gets squeezed in his arms when they get again into the bus. So, we decide to take the girl and sit her on Vera’s lap. Suddenly her scared eyes lighten and the only worries she has are her small shoes, which she tries to catch in order not to fall out on the window. Everybody in the bus is looking at us like we’ve done something amazing, and to be honest, we feel the same way. The little girl is so cute and we are happy that we could integrate so well in the scenario. Unfortunately after two more stops, we had to get out and half the bus made space for us to get our luggage and the girl and her mother got our seat.

Perhaps there are thousands of children getting squeezed in busses all over the world, but with helpful people like in India, nobody will miss the bus or will be left behind.

Photo Source: http://globecornerbookstore.com/blogs/2008/11/01/you-know-youre-in-india-when/