The road had been very long
and a long segment still remained.
A tired traveler walked ahead.
He saw the lonely road ahead
and saw the fallen leaves.
He stopped to catch his old breath
and saw the lonely bird sitting
on a barren solitary tree.
And then the bird came a little near,
as if to tell him what they shared.
They shared the loss of
the only hope
of company on this road.
The wind swayed the tree a bit
and the last leaf fell off.
The man and the tree sighed together
as the last relation was also gone.
As he took another step
the leaves beneath rustled,
the old brown memories
making the last call.

conductor from punjab

I usually avoid sitting next to the conductor but since there was no other option, I took the risk. I bought the ticket for Rs 10 and made myself comfortable yet maintaining my distance on a small seat of blue line local bus. The usual rattling with the coin and continuous call to the prospective passengers was on and I was relishing the fact that finally my exams were over and freedom lay ahead. And then I heard him calling,”Chandigarh ludhiane hoti Hui Amritsar jayegi”(going to amritsar via chandigarh and ludhiana.) smiling I thought, these people are also creative performers, always trying to catch the attention of people. Competition even in this field!
Then another interesting call, “do ke sath ek free”, disrupted my rail of thoughts. (1 free with two) I was almost chuckling and he must have noticed my broad smile. He said,” is it not better madam to have fun while working, otherwise the work becomes drudgery.” At this my mind got abuzz with all kinds of warning signals. A conductor was trying to
Make friendly conversation. I nodded little without even looking in his direction fearing
Another question and trying to discourage it in my own way. But the next question came
And then another one. He was asking harmless questions so there was no reason not to
Answer them. He told me a lot about himself. He was from a village in Punjab and still
Missed it. He repented the fact that he did not pay attention in school. He was fascinated
By the dtc student pass and wanted to somehow get them to the villagers then they could enjoy dilli darshan. He lived somewhere near my house and this bus also rested there only at night. The conversation was intermittently paused for passenger calling. Though
many a times I felt like asking some questions but my intelligence warned me not to. I feared. I feared his innocent queries. I secretly wished to meet to meet him somewhere but I feared what he might say. I wished to board the same bus again but feared friendship with a conductor. Above all I wanted him to tell me more about himself but feared what the fellow passengers might think.
I got off the bus with no goodbyes .5 months have passed and I haven’t seen him again and even if I see him I am sure ill not recognize him but he is still there in my memories wrapped up in irrational fears.