One Rupee & A Woman Passenger!

It was a summer afternoon. Local buses in chennai don't offer you a great experience. I had no option since my bike is undergoing a long pending service. It was a short local travel and the conductor gave me a ticket of eleven rupees. I was out of change, gave him two ten rupee notes. The conductor insisted upon a rupee change. I reverted with a helpless smile. The conductor kept moving forward with a no reaction face. I wasn't sure whether he is trying to seize an opportunity.?

It was like a four stop journey and I was standing near the stairs. The bus had all the seats filled and few passengers were standing. The conductor had taken his reserved seat near the driver and was busy chatting with him. It was another two stops to go for me. The next stop arrived and I noticed a woman nearby was getting ready to descend. She was lean, middle aged with a red and yellow saree. In social terms she looked poor with just a yellow thread around her neck (the mangalsutra). She quickly pressed a one rupee coin in my hands, grabbed a flower basket kept near the stairs and got down. Before I could respond, she was already out of the bus.

The bus started moving again. I slowly walked upto the conductor and gave him that one rupee. The conductor gave neutral look again and returned a ten rupee note. I had mixed emotions.

The one rupee incident, was a good one & I guess was priceless!