Boarding a bus to reach my college is not much of a problem for me except for crossing the extensive east-west bridge to reach the stop...The depot  being the place from where I get on the bus, there has never been a situation of it being overcrowded...with people hanging from all corners and moreover I have always had a preference of  picking the best seat to perch on....

23^rd November was one such monotonous day when I had to reach college by 8 o’clock  for an extra Maths lecture.... Not being the regular timing of my college I left a bit early lest I miss the bus. After a long wait of  nearly 15 minutes the bus arrived and I heaved a sigh of relief...

After my usual encounter with the conductor  for  buying the tickets et al was over....i adjusted myself comfortably on the ‘ladies reserved’ seat. These few seats are ideally located from the point of view of alighting...especially when you are in a hurry and not going in the bus for a joy ride.....

The bus proceeded, halting occasionally at the bus-stops and simultaneously  struggling to find its way through the terrible traffic-jam ahead...The seat besides me was still empty...I was lost in my own world casually listening to the FM on my cell phone when I suddenly heard an indifferent.... “excuse me..” right behind my shoulders...It took me a while to register that it was meant for me.....basically to make place for this young girl to sit next to me...

“Oh, sure” I replied as I  moved inside....

To my surprise my action was responded by a  pleasant smile on the girl’s face...a gesture which is exceedingly rare in today’s fast paced life....I responded too....more because of the thought that it was coming from a  young girl of nearly eight years....who may not even realize the worth of a smile...She did it just  involuntarily or plainly out of her habit.

She sat next to me and placed her school bag neatly on her lap. Then she cautiously took out her fluorescent pink purse with a  Mickey mouse cartoon...Opening the zip she carefully counted 5 rupees required for the ticket...I watched her keenly. I always like to  observe young self-sufficient kids...It only strengthens my belief of how clumsy and careless I was as a kid.

Handing it over to the conductor, she bought the ticket and again followed the same ritual

Open the zip-Fold the ticket-Keep it inside-Close the zip.

 After a while I noticed that her hair ribbon was coming loose...I touched her arm and pointed it out to her....Still she looked questioningly at me... “Tumhara ribbon nikal gaya hai”....I finally told her...Without waiting for a minute she opened the innermost chain of her bag and hunted for something which turned out to be a comb....within minutes she was done with the entire process of  undoing her hair-combing it-tying a plait-and finally carefully tying the ribbon....

With the expertise that she was handling the entire procedure of traveling alone in a crowded public transport I thought that she must be a regular commuter

I was just admiring the little girl to myself  when she suddenly called out... ...

“Didi...aap kahan utroge?”...(“Didi, where will you get down?”)..

Without waiting for an answer she asked again...

“Didi jab Andheri aa jayega to batadoge...please?”....(“Will you please let me know when Andheri comes?”.)

This time she waited expectantly for a “yes” from me....

Inspite of my nodding she seemed impatient....Ultimately I assured her by saying a loud and clear ... “haan...batadoongi...chinta mat karo”......(“Don’t worry...I’ll let you know”)..

“Vaise, tumhara naam kya hai?”....i asked her...(“Whats your name?”) ....

 “Chutki, didi”...she replied with a lot of pride....

She seemed satisfied with my assurance and started looking vaguely at the people standing ahead...

For a girl of nearly eight years, traveling alone by BEST was itself an achievement and it was pretty normal for her to get flustered as far as her bus-stop was concerned, I thought to myself.Minutes passed by and the girl grew increasingly impatient constantly asking me whether her stop had come....Perhaps she was getting late for her school, I wondered.

As the bus reached Andheri, I dutifully made her realize that her destination had arrived...

She looked at me....smiled and reciprocated with a warm “Thank you, didi”

Hurriedly, she dodged her way through the overcrowded bus till she finally managed to reach the door....

I lost track of her as she alighted and got lost in the crowd...Putting my headphones back into my ears I casually looked out of the window......As the bus slowly moved ahead I spotted the same girl who was sitting next to me.....Only this time....with a WALKING STICK!......

Horror struck me at the same time as realization dawned ......young Chutki is BLIND...

My heart was filled with mixed emotions of being angry with God and parallely I marveled at the young girls courage to fight back the situation...

Such was her ‘Blind faith’ towards the society....the system and HERSELF....