Today I took a different bus to office than I usually catch (via a shorter route that I never knew). Actually, this is something that has occupied my mind since this morning. Let me start with a small analysis.

Everything has its pros and cons. I am talking about the distance of the commute between house and office. Those who stay near to office (around 8-12 kms) definitely save their time spending less time in the company bus as compared to those who live farther. But they have another set of problems to face:

1. Not all buses stop for them. Reason: The buses are packed by the time they reach their place.
2. If any of the buses stop to pick them, they don't get a seat to park themselves.

I don't know the policies of other companies, but in Infosys, Wipro ... buses (especially here in Pune), this is a common scene. Usually female employees opt to stay nearer to the office. So, they are the ones who face the above mentioned problems. They keep waving hands at the buses and the buses flagging their "NO VACANT SEATS" board, pass by. Eventually, they do spend ample time waiting on the road to get into a bus.

Anyways, this is not something I am going to discuss here.

See, we can't help in case of problem one. We can only ask the transport department of our organizations to increase the number of buses - which I tried, but they have an explanation: they have tried (and even succeeded) to cover each and every route of the city, they have counted the number of employees (having bus passes) at each location and manage the timings and routes accordingly, which, on their part sounds quite logical. Actually they have around 12 extra buses running in the city at any given point of time than the exact number of buses required to carry the employees from different parts of the city. I don't have any complaints after that. So, problem one is inevitable.

But in case we face problem two. I am sitting in the bus running to office. Girl employees rush into the bus at one of the stops. Some of them manage to grab a seat but one or two of the lot don't get a seat. I feel I should get up and give the seat to her and I did exactly that. I got up and gave my seat to her. She is happy and I am also happy - anyways its just 15-20 minutes distance. I can manage standing :) Now, at a stop further, some more girls get into the bus. I feel helpless at this point of time. I had only one seat and that's gone. I can't ask others to get up and donate their seats. I know one thing, I have observed this: There are people who want to help but don't have the courage to help. They don't feel like saying,"Excuse me, can you please sit here?" Sometimes they do act, but act late. So, there are good people but they don't let their benignity come out. Something similar happened in the bus today. A girl was standing near to a guy who was sitting with his earphones on (must be listening to radio on his phone). I was looking, standing. After around 10 minutes, he finally did it. He put off his ear plugs and kindly asked her to settle while getting up from his seat. The situation was a bit funny as well as outlandish because he didn't do it instantly. It took him 10 minutes to show that gesture. But I was even happier when I saw another guy sitting besides our hero also got up along with him vacating seat for another lady. I don't know if it was mutual or a follow up.

I didn't know any one in the bus when I got inside. But now I very well know these two boys who showed a little courage for a good cause. Good deed actually. And I am sure they enjoyed what they did and next time they will act real fast :)

Such little nice deeds are a great source of happiness. Believe me, it gives a very nice and pleasant feeling. A feeling of satisfaction, pride.

1. Always get up when you see an old person (respect silver hair) or a physically challenged person standing (Be a gentleman, please!)
2. If not the above, the least you can do is offer a help in holding their bags while you are sitting.

Do try it out! A responsible and wise citizen will get down from the bus when you get down. Remember the Lead India song: "तुम चलो तो हिंदुस्तान चले..."