False Accusation

I was heading back home from office in the bus. I was sitting on the front seat and had almost the same view through the windshield as did the driver. If you have read this, you would know who I recommend as a Good Driver, and this bus driver was a Good Driver. He did not honk unnecessarily, he respected people on the road, was in complete control of the situation and never gave any fright to any passenger.

We were cruising through this real narrow road that has a median, making sure that only a bus and perhaps a two-wheeler (with difficulty) can travel in the same lane. As we were moving along, a very old man with a walking stick started crossing the road about 100 yards ahead. Perhaps the old man didn’t see the bus or if he did see, he thought he could cross the road by the time the bus reached him. As it happened, by the time the bus reached the man, he was still in the middle of the road.

The bus driver slowed and got it to a stop and waited for the old man to cross the road. He did not honk which was a good thing because the old man might have fainted! Once the old man crossed the road, he started again.

Now meanwhile, when the bus was stopped in the middle of the road, vehicles at the back of the bus, which couldn’t overtake because of the median, nor could see why the bus was stopped mysteriously, started honking continuously. By the time the bus started moving again, a two-wheeler whizzed past from the left, glared at the driver, showed an accusing hand at him as if the driver had committed a great sin and even mouthed some obscenities, and hurried off. I noticed the driver to see his reaction to the motorcyclist’s gestures. There was a resigned look and a hurt ego. I really felt sorry for him…

Such an irony it is that a good deed goes unnoticed and instead receives such flak. False accusations really hurt…