A different world
altogether
*Present*
Mr. Gupta was
recollecting everything he had done or which happened to him from today
morning. Everything was normal, well his car did not start and he was forced to
take a bus, but it was not abnormal as what happened to him. These public busses
disgusted him from the core- the superfluous combination of the stench and
jerking intimidated him. But today was one of those days when his car
surrendered and he was coerced into taking the bus. Suddenly the world around
him subdued away and all he saw was two small children going to school with
their parents- they had such innocent smiles which would fill anybody’s hearts;
but still what was wrong? His co-passenger was snoring devilishly from the
moment he got a seat. His heart palpitated and his forehead was covered with
beads of sweat; indeed he was in grave trouble. The bus had stopped to pick up
passengers and had regained its momentum when, unable to act or think, suddenly
as if a fit had caught him, he convulsed with fear as he went about pushing
people and almost jumping out of the moving bus.
*Flashback*
Every morning Mr. Gupta
kissed his wife before departing for his posh office in Jadavpur. But today was
different from the start, not that he felt travesty about anything but still;
Mr. Gupta got into a row with her wife, there was no kiss, the car had been
problematic for the past few days and one day it was bound to end up like today
(the car couldn’t take start, no matter how hard he tried). Going to the bus
stand was another ten minutes of physically abusing his nice round beer belly
but Gupta had no choice. Moments seemed like eternity and during this time
Ashwin Gupta’s head was free flowing; jumping from one thought to the next.
Though the majority of this time he profoundly thought about making up to his
wife- while he was weighing on the option of flowers and a pendant or a
vacation to Digha, the bus arrived.
*Present*
The bus was crowded and
he like any other car goer first thought against going in the crowded bus
because he knew he would melt like in hell, but again considering his biggest
nemesis time (which he definitely ran short on), he had to take evasive action.
Pushing around people was a habit which had left him seven years ago, but today
he had to deliberately evoke the experience once again thanks to his defective
Hyundai. It always amazed Ashwin how various types of people boarded the bus
with different contrasts in characters, when Mr. Gupta was in college he would
spend almost all of his bus journeys observing people. But fate was not so kind
to him today and he had to stand straight for about twenty-five minutes until
he finally got a seat. Near about
twenty-five minutes of standing had done their fair share of test on Ashwin’s calf
muscle and he needed to seat; but the empty seat was the result of a
handicapped getting down at his stop. The strain in Ashwin’s calf got the
better of his conscience and he decided to sit in the handicap’s chair; if
somebody came Ashwin always had the option of getting up.
Immediately after
sitting he felt a prick on his butt; as if something sharp had pierced him.
Ignoring the pain, he again tried to sit comfortably stroking his butt
vigorously on the tattered seat, but again got pricked. Cursing and swearing
anybody he could think of at that moment, Ashwin carefully slid his hands in
the hope of finding the cause for disturbance. Unexpectedly a needle comes to
his hand and attached to it, visible, is a strip of paper with the words
engraved on it, in red ,“Welcome to our world, welcome to the world of HIV
Aids” and beside it is the popular ribbon folded to form the Aids symbol.
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