Back in form?!

Usually my routine is to walk back from work up until the campus's entrance and then take an auto from there. It rained pretty heavily today and it was all slushy. And to add to it I didn't find an auto so I continued my walk in the direction of our apartments. At the back of my mind I was slowly preparing myself for that 4KM walk. What if I don't find any autos? 4KMS is not that bad, I used to run 5 miles at one time back in history and so on and so forth, you get the picture. I walked up until a point where there is a gap in the median between the service road and the actual ORR. Over here I found a couple of people waiting. And then I saw a bus stopping. This was a sure sign of a bus stop (yeah no fancy bus shelters, this is the real thing;) ) I had spoken to my land lady last evening asking her about some bus service she was mentioning when we first met. And she told me the route number was 500. And the bus I saw was 500 :D But it was too late by the time I reached there, the bus was already gone. But, ..but :D there was one immediately after that. And I asked the conductor if he stopped at the junction where I live and he said yes. Wow. I got into the bus.

When did I do this last? Maybe in Hyd I did it in 2005 on one of my innumerable trips back to India then. But in Bangalore? I don't even remember. Maybe 2000? 8 years back! I was so glad to be on that bus just taking in the fact that I was here. I paid the conductor 10 Rs. And he gave me a ticket for 5 and gave me back 5 in change :D Wow! So cheap compared to the Auto (at least 30 Rs.)

Of course, think of it in the USD and its a mere 12 cents!! Yay!! Although, it's extremely dangerous to reverse calculate Rs to USD when you are here, too dangerous;) Its OK if you convert USD to Rs when you are in the US, it keeps you from spending more thinking of the huge amount, but it causes the exact opposite effect when you do it here;)

But anyway, I got off at the bus stop and crossed the ORR and started walking home. I have been doing this "crossing the ORR" since a couple of days and its made me extremely happy. And the bus ride today made me jump in joy! :D I would have shocked my own self about 8 years back if I said that a bus ride made me happy. Going by buses and crossing busy streets (let alone highways) was never a happy event for me. I used to hate it. Going by car was always an aspirational thing. But a bus-ride was part of my being for 21 years. A car ride was dream. Today when I took the bus I felt overjoyed because it felt like reconnecting with my past. Not to mention the fact that I am finally convinced that I adapted back to my roots and adapted fast at that. I knew I would be able to. But there was some amount of doubt somewhere, maybe I have changed without my knowing.

Now I know.