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Today’s story is about the hardships that come with change. Read on to find what happens when a new bus arrives at a bus depot. 👇
📖 ⌚Reading time ~ 4 minutes
Bus mechanic
Sachin Da was wide awake before his alarm clock went off at 4:30 am. Today, he didn’t go through his daily struggle with the alarm clock, which involved snoozing it once or twice before waking up around 5:00 am. Over the years, he had come to love the early mornings. He couldn’t remember the last time he had missed watching the sun rise.
He was among the twelve chosen people, whose jobs started before the city woke up. They were responsible for ensuring the city kept moving every single day. For all of them, today was a big day.
Sachin Da finished having his morning cup of tea and three Marie Gold biscuits, before wearing his black shoes and light-blue shirt and dark blue pants. He used his phone’s flashlight to find his way out of the apartment, instead of turning on the tube light. His wife and daughter were fast asleep, as he latched the door.
The street dogs, however, were wide awake. One of them hopped towards Sachin Daa, sticking his tongue out. Others followed right away, as Sachin Da dropped four biscuits on the road.
His twenty-minute walk to the bus depot was usually a reflective, meditative walk, where Sachin Da got a chance to plan his day and his life.
“Like a bumblebee she buzzes, like a snake she finds her way,” he remembered one of his colleagues saying a few days ago.
At the city bus depot, his fellow mechanics had the habit of naming buses. A new bus coming to the depot was an occasion to get their creative juices flowing. The one who came up with the best name had a chance to make a legacy, and also win a few thousand rupees as a part of a competition.
This bus was unique, so giving it an appropriate name was of utmost importance. Sachin Da had to think of a name before he reached the depot. He had been thinking for almost a week at this point, but nothing had clicked.
“Like a bumblebee she buzzes, like a snake she finds her way,” was how the bus was described to Sachin Da.
Twenty minutes of walking led him to the bus depot, where his colleagues were already engaged in a discussion.
“Sachin Daa,” a fellow mechanic called out his name as he entered through the huge gate of the bus depot. A few buses were lined up on either side, while a garage had two more buses being repaired.
“How is Sheela? Sheela ki Jawaani...” the worker continued with an excitement of a father naming a newborn baby.
Sachin Da gave him a grumpy look and continued towards a small office on his left. He put his bag down and went back to the lobby. Everyone had gathered around the lobby this time, waiting to hear what Sachin Da had thought of. In the past, he had come up with some unusual names for buses, like a Panda bus, the Makkhan bus, and many others.
“This one should be different. She's a pricey kid, for sure.” He said. “We shouldn’t think of her like the others. Something has to be different.”
“Costs only 1.1 Crore. From today onwards, we are all going to be rich. Have you ever imagined maintaining a brand-new vehicle costing more than a crore rupees? In fact, we don’t even know how much money a crore rupees is?” Someone mocked.
“Umm, Paisewaali? Raees? How about Sonchiriya?” one of the joyous members in the group uttered. The excitement on his face was visible even with his thick beard hanging down to his neck.
“Yeah, but I don’t like Shah Rukh Khan, so no references to his movies,” Sachin Daa uttered.
“Yeah, yeah, Sachin Da. Do you even like anyone apart from Tendulkar? If he acts in a movie, you’ll go and pay a thousand rupees to watch it,” the man with the thick beard responded.
“How about we name what it is? The first electric bus?” Sachin Daa replied.
Considering the massive pollution in the city, the administration had decided to procure only electric buses going forward.
“Since when did you get so boring, Sachin Daa? Since Tendulkar retired, I’ve noticed your creativity getting worse by the day. You need to move on, now,” he paused. “Let’s think of a good name!”
Sachin Daa remained pensive. He was frustrated at this point. He had thought of so many names, but none had clicked.
Other mechanics bounced off some additional names, like Bijli, Shocker, Flash, but someone or the other opposed these names fiercely. They wanted the name to be unique.
This was the first electric bus to arrive at the depot. People were naturally excited. More than the newness of the bus, newspapers and TV channels had glorified these buses as a cure-all from the menace of pollution. All the mechanics had felt the bad effects of pollution personally. Some had to experience smog every evening, while others had to ingest smoke emanating from nearby factories.
Getting a chance to repair these buses was like joining a movement – a shift towards a greener, sustainable world.
“So, what name are we finalizing?” Sachin Daa asked a few minutes later.
“Before that,” a fat person came walking with a stack of thick books, “I need you to look at this,” he said. The books were titled “Maintenance guidebook – model E-342.” The fat person handed one book to each person standing in the group.
Everyone was shocked. Until now, whenever a new bus came to the depot, it came with minor modifications on the technical front, but none of them came with a gigantic guidebook.
“We need to read these books before the bus goes into operation next week. I need you to be thorough with the guidebook. Understood?” The fat man said in his baritone voice.
“But, sir...” a confused, young person asked.
“Being an electric bus, the engine of this one doesn’t operate similar to the other buses. You will notice many differences from our traditional buses,” he continued.
“Does this guidebook list everything?” Sachin Daa asked.
“No. This one is a good starting point for learning how electric vehicles work.”
“Okay... more than a crore rupees spent, and they couldn’t give us a comprehensive handbook?”
“No. They are launching special classes for us starting next week. We will be getting training for three months, two hours every day. You have to stay after your morning shifts for two hours to get this training.” The fat man had a placid face.
“But sir...” Sachin Daa was shocked.
“No buts, you need to adjust to the schedule. Suffer for three months, and the rest of your life will be easy. We will be getting only electric buses from now on.”
Everyone nodded. The officer left the corridor looking at his phone. Sachin Daa looked at the guidebook. It had more than two hundred pages, with text in English and Hindi. Who was going to read such a long book? Why did they even make such books?
“I guess we should name this bus Museebat. It is already bringing in so much trouble,” Sachin Da said before setting the book in a corner and heading towards another bus waiting to be repaired.
***
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Hemant
The way the plot gets build up is amazing, with an astonishing ending. Love your writings Hemant ..Easy to Read and gets one connected to Human emotions .👍