Sajha Bus Escapade

The town was abuzz with the news of this old bus making a comeback. Well, not an old bus exactly, but old brand of bus line - Sajha Yatayat. He had always loved travelling in a Sajha bus in the olden days. Then he had aged and gone were his travelling-in-public-bus days. But on a rainy day in April, he had to resort back to taking a public transportation due to some unforeseen circumstances and he happily took advantage of this situation to set on an adventure of his own, only he did not know that it was going to be one when he got out of the house.

Like I said, it was raining and he was not used to going out carrying an umbrella, standing under a pouring sky. He waited for this posh-tourist-bus-like-shuttle for almost half an hour. He was aware of the time being wasted, while his friends called him incessantly. Still he let the other public buses pass him by and waited. Twenty-five minutes is a long time for a pair of shoes unaccustomed to walking to be soaked on a cake of mud on a pavement of Kathmandu. So when the bus did arrive and stop a good distance away from where he was standing, his soles gave away as he made to walk towards his long-awaited ride. A man of his character, he refused to succumb to his misfortune and being a stubborn man that he was, he dragged himself to the bus, resolving to get over this right then.

The doors closed and he was seated on the new-smelling seats. He knew he could and would not show his excitement but excited, he was. He looked up and there was the much-talked-about television. Oh boy, who would've thought about this. In a public bus. In Nepal, no less, he thought.

After a while, the conductor lady came to collect his fare. "Sukedhara.", he said. The lady looked puzzled. "But this bus is going to Lagankhel via Teaching Hospital". Now he was in a fix. All his excitement faded off a bit. He was going to have to get off at Maharajgunj and again get a ride to Sukedhara. That was not how he had planned. But he had learnt in his long life that life was about adjusting to unwelcome situations and those situations did come often for you to avoid them. Well, he thought. Another one of those times in life where you put on a smile on your face say, that's all you got?

He got off in Maharajgung and went looking for a cobbler to fix his shoes. It was raining still so there was no help available. He could not go back home as tardy as he was already. Dragging his feet as inconspicuously as possible so as to not attract attention, he was still on the road waiting for a ride when he bumped into a passerby and his umbrella snapped. It snapped! What a day. When he had asked for more early on, he had certainly meant it as rhetoric not a challenge.  Anyways the day had to go on. He boarded a bus and went to his destination. He could deal with his problem when he met his friends. No matter what he had had to face, at least he was left with a story he could tell his kids later in the evening. And he was a good story teller.

The famous Sajha Bus

This pic comes from I-don't-know when but looks old and yet so good.