Every time I travel by bus, I send up a silent prayer for returning home in one piece. As soon as I place a foot in the bus, the conductor shouts "Right" and the bus starts with a jerk. Lurching forward, with one hand firmly clasping the bar overhead, I somehow manage to sit down, if I can find a vacant seat. Otherwise begins a merry dance, with yours truly hanging on for dear life, with both hands clutching the overhead bars for support. When the bus turns corner, I turn pale with fright, swaying to the right or left, as the case may be.

Once when I was new to bus travel here in Coimbatore, I collided with a gentleman standing near me due to the sudden application of brakes by the driver. The poor man got such a fright that he ran to the rear of the bus. Someone kindly got up and offered me a seat seeing my distress!

All my grandiose plans of going on shopping expeditions and pleasure outings to the city (we live in a residential suburb about 10 kms from the heart of the city) by bus disappeared into thin air. The last straw on the camel's back, as it were, was pickpockets getting away with my purse - not once but twice while returning home in a crowded bus.

Enough is enough. I have decided to avoid bus travel except when absolutely necessary. I am content with going for evening walks with hubby - where I am free from impatient bus conductors, jostling crowds and pickpockets.