Rush Hour

The man wore a colorful shirt. It wasn’t the flashy, flowery ‘I am holidaying in Hawaii’ sort but it was colorful. It was colorful but not distracting. He sat right opposite to the driver’s seat in the Nepal Yatayat talking to the driver. And I sat right behind him. The driver was a young chap. He must be one of the new generation of NY drivers who were ex-conductors of the bus. The man got off at Tangal. And right before getting off the bus and after rising from his seat said,” Ma alikati hindera janchu. “(I will walk a little distance). The driver signaled the conductor (who looked of the same age) not to charge the man for his fare. The conductor said “Pardaina” (No need of the fare) when the man tried to reach for his purse in his back pocket. And no sooner the man started his ‘short distance walk’, the driver stretched his body to face the conductor and said “Barha hajar talab khancha yo. Tel chorna paucha ni. Akhtiyar ko driver po hota.” (He earns 12 thousand for salary. He gets to steal oil (petrol) on the top of it. He is a driver at the CIAA (Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority).