 Voice of a pedestrian
by Janani Amarasekera
The sun was setting by the time
I reached Nugegoda. The people waiting to board the bus were polite
enough to allow me to step down first. I hurried down, seeing their
impatient faces to get in. The people waiting for the bus together with
the teenage boys hanging around, watching the young girls pass by made
me think of a beehive buzzing around. I worked my way through the crowd
and finally reached the pavement.
 It had been a long day at work and I was tired. All I wanted was to
get home and take a relaxing bath. As usual, I took the bus back from
work and that journey made me more exhausted.
Of course, travelling in a bus during the rush hour is not a cinch.
Stepping into the bus itself needs so much energy. Finally, wiggling our
way in, one has to struggle further to move through the crowd. With the
conductor’s yelling Passata yanna (move backward) or issarahata yanna
(move forward), you dare not pretend you did not hear him, else, he will
shout out clues for the others to recognise who he is referring to.
The honking of cars, vans, and buses, hustle and bustle of the people
and from screaming to greetings signalled the end of another eventful
day.
I felt the dust sticking to my face. I felt unpleasant, and unclean.
I felt the heat, which bounced off the tarmac as if it could not take
any more from the blazing sun.
 Polluted air and the heat made me walk faster away from this tired
city. Not only I, many pedestrians around me, felt the same. They did
not want to spare a second to raise their head and offer a smile. “They
too have their own quota of problems in life,” I thought. I walked
faster as fast as my exhausted body could manage.
All of a sudden, I realised that someone had stepped on my slipper
from behind. “Oops”, I looked back. “Sorry,” said a woman with a
carelessly wrapped saree around her and with a sheepish smile on her
face. “That’s okay.” I made it simple. I did not want to continue with
the incident. After all, it was a mistake. I gained my pace again. I had
no time to spare since I had a long walk home.
The traffic on the pavement was intense. Men and women wearing
elegant office wear were racing against one another. With a blank
thought, I followed them. Occasionally turning my head to the right and
left, I looked at what hangs on the shop-windows, and then lazily
changed the idea of shopping.
Lost in my thoughts, I realised that my ‘autopilot’ had stopped my
walk. There was a couple walking in front of me deeply sunk in their
world. Their speed almost stopped my run home. The girl was wearing
tight blue denims with a purple top and matching hoop earrings while the
boy wore a black T-shirt and grey denims. Both of them had books in
their hands and the girl had a black bag on her left shoulder.
I tried to overtake them from the right but failed. Then I tried to
overtake from the left, and I failed again. I had no choice but to tap
the girl and ask “Excuse me, can I pass?” Exchanging puzzled looks with
each other, they moved aside. They looked annoyed. Not wanting to be
rude to them, I smiled a little while passing. They did not even bother
to look at me!
 The sunshine was fading faster than I thought. Even the vendors were
getting ready to go home. While my eyes wandered around them, I faintly
heard a whisper, “Lassanai,” (Beautiful).
Realising that someone had commented on my looks, I did not know
whether to take it as a compliment or as a useless comment from a
loafer. After a seconds thought, I decided to ignore that.
The honking continued and all the vehicles were lined up at the
traffic lights. I stood facing the pedestrians’ light. Vehicles were
racing in and out to every direction of the junction. While waiting
until light turned green, I could not resist watching the people who
risked their life to save a minute or two by crossing before the right
time. Are those timesavings worth as much as their lives?
I failed to think of an answer. I desperately wished if one of those
people could give me the reason. Why do they risk their lives without
choosing to wait for two minutes? It puzzled me so much. Without
confusing myself further, I looked at the blank sky, wondering how long
I will take to go home! |
