Trip to Punjab

Entering Punjab during the torrential rains, the vast green landscape greeted my eyes. I had departed on a bus from the Deli bus terminus and it was quite the journey. The Punjab bus would make its way from Delhi to Amritsar via Jalandhar which was to be my stop. Nearing Panipat the driver applied sudden brakes to compensate for the truck ahead but it was too late. Hitting the truck in the rear the front window cracked, barely hanging in. The unexpected bump left many passengers uneasy and some bruised. In the seat behind an elderly gentleman who was taking a nap on the handlebar had the skin above his eyebrow torn open and was bleeding. The person beside me had hit his jaw and was clenching his teeth in pain.

The show of help in these situations is extraordinary as strangers come to help. The old man was given a small towel which he used on his wound. The oddest was that due to a lack of medication he was handed over a bottle of red nail polish. Even my attention sparked at this as I wondered what would be done. The person beside the old man opened the nail polish and held the dipped polish millimeters from his wound. My neighbor explained that the spirits from the mixture would help neutralize the germs. No word can describe the surprise I felt at this point.

Soon after this incident the bus stopped and some passengers got on the bus. One of them was a man approximately 5 feet 10 who was much disoriented and could not sit at one spot. He changed his seat three times before repeating the same cycle again. This unusual behavior first annoyed the fellow passengers and than resulted in yelling and abuse. The man still in his own world went to the back and began to drink hard liquor straight for the bottle. After this he took a nap and started his activity again but looking more determined and upset. This time he approached me.

The latch opened quickly, my wrist flicked quickly and the bite handle jumped forward soon followed by the blade. I swung my hand around before the handle could hit my hand, the blade turned and made a clean arch in the air before the whole contraption came together and rested in my fist. With the edge of the knife I touched my eyebrow to show I was not afraid. My friend Pallavi had given me a unique gift before departing, a butterfly knife. It is banned in most western countries as it only has use in conflicts but forms a stylish ornament for those who can handle it well. I had kept it for my safety and hardly a day into getting it I already had it in my hand.

He looked at me again, contemplating what to do next. As I looked in his eyes I realized that though he looked angry, he was not a violent man, just pushed around and challenged in some way or another. My show of force would not do anything to bring peace to the situation. I swung the knife back and asked him firmly to sit down, he complied. Drugs and alcohol had made him disoriented and I doubt even he knew what he was doing. The conductor realized this as well and though others protested he did not let the man down for what would he do and where would he go in the rains. Even in a dire situation some humanity came through and he was given water and people watched that he did not jump off the bus.