I took a bus ride yesterday. It was that simple. I had somehow forgotten that there was a holiday and had scheduled some works with the government departments. It was a mistake. And, in the end I decided to take a bus ride to meet a friend. I've never used the bus during my earlier visits. The metro-train combination for Madhyamgram was convenient, easy and quick.

This time I took a bus. As is the habit with me I asked the conductor to call out when Madhyamgram Chowmatha (the four-lane intersection) came up. While he happily and with some mirth said that it was 90 minutes away, the co-passenger said that since he would be getting off a stop before it shouldn't be a problem. The WBITDC/JNNURM bus was pretty comfortable. It may have been carrying a lighter load than usual (and, the detour via EM Bypass due to Moulali-Sealdah being closed down for processions) could have contributed. By the looks of it the passengers were a familiar bunch. Perhaps they all travel together like they do in trains. Small talk, banter and snatches of words and phrases not usually heard in the city buses abounded. The day was nice, the journey long and, the window seat was mine. That was probably required to ward off the feelings of being let down by the snag in the scheduling of work - when one has a hard timeline to adhere to, any complications can either be taken in the stride (swalpa adjust maadi) or, just cribbed over. I had ended up doing the latter but half an hour in the bus did away with all the feelings of general unhappiness.

The bus was on time. More importantly, the short journey allowed me to see a bit of suburbia that I haven't had the chance to see in the intervening 6 years. Lot has changed. But then again a whole lot hasn't - read infrastructure (sanitation-sewage), street lights and so forth. And, the walk to dipankar-da's house was made with light trippy steps (as much as my girth would allow). We meet only when I am in town and conversations generally end up being more unstructured than what we have over email. Yesterday was no exception. And, with a wonderful mutton curry and some lovely mellow Earl Grey tea it was time well spent. And, probably because I was a happy camper did the return journey have all the links clicking together like clock-work (managed to snag an earlier train which led to obtaining tickets for the metro right on time and thereafter getting a seat for the entire stretch and, getting comfortably to an auto).

Sometimes just taking a journey to chat can make one feel better.