Friday 24 February 2012

Uff Ye Cellphone....!



I was travelling by a local bus from 7 no. bus stop to New Market. At one of the intermediate bus stops, a girl who was in her early twenties, and was dressed in T-shirt and jeans, got on. She climbed into the bus with difficulty, since her left hand was held up in the air, somewhat like a police man signalling traffic to stop. On a closer look, it became clear why she was holding that rather odd pose.
There was nothing wrong with her left hand, only its palm had been freshly decorated with mehandi (henna) and she obviously did not want the design to be smudged. Since the bus was fairly crowded, the girl was forced to keep standing, her right hand holding tightly onto the overhead rail.
Suddenly her cellphone started to ring, without waiting for even half a second, she dropped her right hand, took the phone from her jeans pocket and started chatting with someone who appeared to be her boyfriend. So she was involved in her conversation that she seemed very oblivious of the fact that she was in a local bus which jerked, swayed and jumped as  it weaved its way through heaved traffic on a pot-holed road. She also appeared to have forgotten that local bus  have a tendency to start and stop suddenly. 
What happened next was almost preordained. Without any warning , whatsoever, the bus driver, who had seen a motorcyclist cut in-front of him, braked hard. Most of the passengers, seated near where the girl was standing, were enjoying the romantic mush she was spouting.
I admired the girl's discipline, she kept her left hand upright and continued talking over the phone in her right hand, all the while trying desperately to maintain her balance. Quite naturally she failed to do so , she crashed onto an elderly man who was unfortunately enough to be standing in front of her. He in turn, rammed into the man in front of him, the cellphone flew out of the girl's hand, bounced off the head of a passenger sitting near the front entrance and flew out of the door.
'Mera phone..! mera phone..! Bhaiya roko...! screamed the girl
Roko...roko....bus roko......! 
But the local bus drivers wouldn't have the bad reputation that characterizes them if they started listening to the passengers' plea. The bus continued merrily on its way. As for the girl,she showed not an ounce of remorse or even attempted to apologies to the man she had crushed into or to the one her cell phone had hit. All she did was to console herself, "never mind". Anyway that phone was a year old and i was going to threw it away. My dad will get me a new, latest model by the evening.
I am sure most of us have witnessed the similar bizarre incidents, or maybe, even undergone horrible experience, such as almost being banged by a speeding motorist who was more intent on talking over his cellphone than driving his vehicle or having a pedestrian suddenly stepping into your path of vehicle because he or she was trying to cross the road while engaged in a cell phone conversation.
Cellphone are source of another problems also.