The morning ritual 
July 20th, 2008 | by Gopa
It’s a place where all buses stop and that includes my office bus. Because the buses stop there, auto-rickshaws queue up by the side of the road to ferry passengers across the narrow lanes. Eager to grab a piece of the pie, taxis too pile up behind the autos. Often the autowallahs and taxiwallahs quarrel with each other for space.
I watch all this while waiting for my office bus every morning. I stand on the road, along with many others, because the pavement is occupied by vendors. Behind me is the line of autos. I take a small step backwards whenever a public bus arrives. Undeterred, the bus stops with its door wide open right in front of me, as if to suck me inside. I take two steps sideways to allow passengers to alight from the bus. Thus I wait, sandwiched between the bus and the autos, for the bus to pass.
The bus moves on and the queue of autos advances as some of them get passengers to carry. Suddenly I find some space behind me and take two steps backwards to occupy the space. Soon another auto comes to queue up behind the others. I take a few steps sideways and take position behind the newcomer auto. A taxi arrives and claims that space too and so I take a few steps forward to return to my original position.
When I returned home last evening, I found my folks watching an old film on TV. The scene was that of a ballroom dance, in which the dancers took a step backward, then two steps forward and then a step sideways, and so on. It gave me an idea. Right after posting this piece on Ibibo, I’m gonna look up the origins of different dance forms on the World Wide Web.
20 Responses to “The morning ritual”
By Idle Mind on Jul 20, 2008 | Reply
Sure, you did! But then, that was way too ’serious’ as a fact. This was a funnier one. Thanks for stopping by.
By Idle Mind on Jul 20, 2008 | Reply
I can definitely agree with you. Such acts are not less known in cities like ours, almost many go through it. And when we think abt them after a hard day, they feel utterly funny. And hey, we returned each other’s post with first comments. Quite a coincid
By . Miranda on Jul 20, 2008 | Reply
Wow…what a experience dear!… and the solution comes as a great idea…keep it up…
By Dr Raj on Jul 20, 2008 | Reply
The message was subtle, and intelligent….great satire, my dear!
By Rakhi on Jul 21, 2008 | Reply
indeed,absolute cracking satire to read….thanks for sharing such an individualistic yet common incident…hope doing well
By Muktadhara on Jul 21, 2008 | Reply
i could not guess even 4 a single moment that it wud end like this till i read the last word ….hilarious! liked it immensely:)
By Pavalamani P on Jul 21, 2008 | Reply
Art from sweat!
By Sonia Sonia on Jul 22, 2008 | Reply
our ending was quite an anti climax :)!! Loved the description of the morning ritual ….and the subtle satire. In addition to the movie, the constant up-down-sideways movement while waiting must have added to the inspiration :d…Tc.
By InkTank on Jul 26, 2008 | Reply
this is no ordinary writing, with n archer kind of twist in the tail…satirical writing always has a larger impact…..well written gopa…. and thanks for appreciating my posts, with a flurry of comments…..thank U
By Dr Raj on Jul 26, 2008 | Reply
Hi Gopa…thnx for the comments on my blog on Kalawati….I would expect u of all persons to grasp the satire! The rural Indian woman is made to mouth that kind of dialogue to bring out the incongruity of what she is being made to do by the puppeteers..er
By Idle Mind on Jul 28, 2008 | Reply
Now we need a new one, Gopa. Plz oblige ..
By Sonia Sonia on Jul 30, 2008 | Reply
Thanx Gopa….how abt teating us to a new post soon? tc
By Vio Sno on Jul 30, 2008 | Reply
Quiet interesting. The chaotic morning hours drive us crazy but thankfully at the end of the day,we are left with something to laugh at.Btw, good luck with the dance research :).
By InkTank on Aug 3, 2008 | Reply
well…i am into selling/marketing instrumentation for combustion eficiency, in indutries. my job involves to all major indian cities, avg 15 days in a month. so i do get this chance to meet bloggers in person. 23 so far…..and the number will go up all
By Idle Mind on Aug 3, 2008 | Reply
Now, this is not really a good excuse for your readers. One should write for others too … and thanks for your wishes.
By Umbrella on Aug 3, 2008 | Reply
lolzzz..new dance forms..eh? cool. Hey..thnx for ur comment hon. Happy friendship day. cheers
By Vio Sno on Aug 4, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the comment dear. Happy frienship day.
By Sonia Sonia on Aug 5, 2008 | Reply
Such exist in this world Gopa and the blogworld is also affected. I have reported, but nothing shall happen…i am sure of it. Anyways, howz life? tc.
By Sumit Ghost on Aug 7, 2008 | Reply
ha ha…. enjoyed ths post… all the best 4 ur nomination inx HOF
By Akruti S.r on Aug 9, 2008 | Reply
ha ha ha well that means that we get trained in various dance forms. cool. any idea whom should we pay the fee??? lolzzz