Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy!!!

 I have come a long way from being the spoilt Indian girl who had a personal chauffeur while in Mumbai to being this lady who patiently waits at the CARTA bus-stop for  taking the bus to downtown. My lessons in humility and patience began during my bus journeys in the United States. It's a fascinating trip which lasts for 25 minutes. In that time, you get to observe many people who are also a part of this journey with you.

 Their faces and conversations get etched in your memory, for better or for worse. I'd like to write about a few of these 'bus regulars' whom I have encountered. There's this young man who works at some bar. His hair reminds me of someone who had his hair stand out because of an electric shock It's the new 'in' fashion, I guess. Dear Lord!.

Another character is a man who cannot stop talking. It's just exhausting to hear his constant chatter after  8 hrs at work. I have learnt to ignore him since any eye contact would mean that I would need to provide my inputs towards whatever he has an opinion about. His topics include politics, laws and how the government doesn't want its citizens to be happy. The latter part is his favorite. I ain't adding my opinion to his political stands since I am an alien in his country and my opinions don't count. But it's not like he's waiting for any of my suggestions. He's just happy to hear his own voice.

Now let's discuss this man who sits at the backseat. He's always wearing glares. I am puzzled with this habit on days when it's raining in South Carolina. His glares must be his best friend or it's a way of watching people without their knowledge. There are 2 college kids who are regulars as well.
Like typical teens, they are dead to the world and alive to just listen to the music on their cell phones.Another person who joins the bus once in a while is a Retired Captain. He's another talker. He likes to gossip about the women he met and what they told him. I am sure that they'd not be too pleased with the information that he shares about them with other men. Again, no eye contact!!! That's my strategy to avoid conversation. I must appear to be an uneducated Indian woman who cannot speak English. I heard a lady at the hotel state that most civilized places in the world speak English nowadays. It really fascinates me on how little people know about other countries and cultures around them. Despite living in an internet age, we still have folks who like to live in their perfect world and look at others with condescending attitudes. Oh well,  like Stephen Hawking cites, “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."
There is a family who takes the bus as well.
The child in that family is always coughing. I feel bad for the kid but I am always praying that I don't catch any of the germs. I don't want to fall sick in this country. It's always a struggle to find a doctor who is a part of your insurance plan. Back home, I'd just go to any doctor who's available. I wouldn't need to show my insurance card or fill umpteen forms to get some medical attention. Things work differently here. Back in India, a dentist extracted any defected tooth. But out here, you need a dental surgeon to do that. Blimey! Any prescription that's prescribed by the doctor will cost a bomb. I learnt that from a personal experience which led to my rejection of that ointment. I wasn't suffering. I could do without spending 85$$ from my own pocket. I mentioned to the pharmacist that I don't understand the insurance processes. She told me that I shouldn't fret since most didn't. Hmm! Last week, there were these homeless people who had hurried into the bus to escape the winter. As was expected, they couldn't pay the bus fare. But the bus driver was kind enough to let them travel. The lone lady in this group was a very pretty looking woman. She had lost her job and was on disability for the past 5 yrs due to some health condition. Her feet had developed some sores and she couldn't afford the medicine since it cost 800 $$. She was crying and sharing her problems with Mr. Chatter. He as usual berated the government! I really wished that I could give her the money. But we don't have money to spare for taking care of  miseries that belong to others when our own don't stop.I wonder if  President Obama's insurance plans will help such people who cannot afford insurance.  I can't believe that such poor folks exist in the most developed nation of the world! I sincerely wish that the President did something to cover such  category of people who are out of work and are not able to afford medical care.Then there are some folks who take the bus once in a while. There's this guy who keeps staring at me. Again, no eye contact! I have absolutely no interest in conversations with strangers. Of course...listening into their conversations just happens! There are more. But I'll leave them etched in my memory for now!

To end my bus musings, I found an apt quote. It makes so much sense to me.

“Life is similar to a bus ride.
The journey begins when we board the bus.
We meet people along our way of which some are strangers, some friends and some strangers yet to be friends.
There are stops at intervals and people board in.
At times some of these people make their presence felt, leave an impact through their grace and beauty on us fellow passengers while on other occasions they remain indifferent.
But then it is important for some people to make an exit, to get down and walk the paths they were destined to because if people always made an entrance and never left either for the better or worse, then we would feel suffocated and confused like those people in the bus, the purpose of the journey would lose its essence and the journey altogether would neither be worthwhile nor smooth.”
― Chirag Tulsiani

So then..I got pondering on the' meaning' of happiness to different people in this universe. It was also because of this conversation that I was having with my sister on the various  'happy','smiley' pictures  that people pasted on their Facebook pages.  Sometimes, I think that we have an inherent need to flash our  happiness on social networks to assure ourselves that we have what it takes to be happy! But is that the true picture? I was reading about this politician's wife who had beauty, money, fame and power, all of which are powerful concoctions that ideally should lead to a state of bliss. But incidentally, the newspapers reported that she was found dead in her hotel room. Whether it's a suicide or a murder is yet to be decided. So what was she lacking in her picture perfect life? Many people who live on the streets of Mumbai are hungry but they are the ones who seem to be the most cheerful, despite not knowing where their next meal will arrive from. Every festival is celebrated with pomp and galore at these ghettos. So it isn't economic status that drives their state of mind. Maybe they just go ahead and make most of what life has to offer. I was watching this movie where a lady who is dying from cancer reassures her doctor that he had done all that he could for her and if god had decided to call her back to his home, it was time for her to go. It may be a simple thought but her faith in heaven makes her a strong woman who can endure hardships in life without complaints.Maybe there's some learning to imbibe here.

"If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be fulfilled. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the world belongs to you." —Lao Tzu