Bus and the handkerchief

 Back in the days of early 1990s, I was travelling by bus in Odisha. No sooner it arrived at the stop and slowed down than some passengers jumped like monkeys while running adjacent to it and started throwing their handkerchief on the seats through the open windows.

Those who have traveled by bus in Odisha know this a classic way of reserving their seats before boarding, making a line before embarking the vehicle be damned. I waited for my turn and took my time to board. Once inside I saw some empty seats though many were still standing, reluctant to occupy those seats by the windows strewn with handkerchiefs.

I nonchalantly swished away one of those "Rumals" (handkerchief) from a cherished window seat and occupied it. After a few minutes here comes this guy leisurely strolling towards me munching a packet of peanuts (groundnuts), spilling the shells on the bus floor. He wasn't too pleased to see me occupying his much cherished side seat.

While he bent down to pick up his Rumal he started accusing me of stealing his seat which he painstakingly reserved for himself by throwing that piece of cloth. I told him pointing to a Scooter parked outside "So you think by throwing your handkerchief on this vehicle you can claim it as your own" - trying to drive my point. I could hear muffled laughter from the surrounding co-passengers.

But the punchline was yet to come. Another guy sitting behind followed me in his typical Odia in Berhampuri southen Odia accent "HA RE PUA, MO MAAIKINA MUNDARE RUMALU TA THOI KAHIBU TO MAIKINA TA MORA EKKA" - transliterated "Oh my son, you can put the handkerchief on my wife's head and claim my wife as your's only." Now the entire bus burst into laughter.

Couple of years ago Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos fulfilled his dream of travelling to space by taking his spaceflight on "New Shepherd" - the rocket ship made by his space company "Blue Origin". The flight was for 10 minutes which propelled him 60 miles above the earth into the space.

This baby step taken is certainly going to be the harbinger of many more such trips to space, making it more affordable to fly into the space as time flies.

A la Dr. Martin Luther King Jr who had a dream about Georgia, today I have this midsummer daydream. One day during my lifetime when the space bus would be parked I would be able to reserve a window seat by throwing a handkerchief. If the space bus is overloaded I won't mind standing inside it, paying half the price of ticket. From space I will expose the phalanx of my 32 teeth and do "HeeeHeeeHeee" and wave my hand to the mere mortals on earth.