Madam Rides the Bus Summary
It is a sensitive story of a Tamil girl Vallamai or Valli, who is only eight years old. He was eager to learn about the outside world. Also, he did not have friends to play with. So she stands inside the door of her residence and sees people in the street. This was his favorite pastime. However, she was always fascinated by the bus journey. There he took a bus trip between his village and the nearest town. He started collecting information about bus times from his neighbors. The bus travels to the town near his village which is about six miles from his village. One way the fare was thirty paise. Therefore, Valli started saving money for the fare of the bus.
She planned to travel in the afternoon when her mother was taking her nap. Valli was standing on the road waiting for the bus. As soon as the bus arrived, she told the conductor that she wanted to go to the city. The conductor was a jovial person. He called his madam and showed him the seat. The bus was new and painted in green and white stripes. The bus was comfortable and the seats were luxurious. In his travels, he enjoyed seeing the mountains, lush green fields and meadows of palm trees. She was experiencing all this for the first time with her eyes. On the way to the city, he saw a young cow who came in front of the bus while crossing the road. The driver whistled and the cow crossed. All of this is very enticing for Valli. It was like a dream come true for him.
She was watching everything but the landscape outside was her main focus. After some time the bus reached the final destination and all the passengers got down. The conductor asked her to step down but told that she was there for the bus ride. The conductor smiled upon hearing her answer. Valli stayed in the bus and had a return ticket from the conductor. The bus started and on the way back home he saw the same cow by the side of the road. This made her heart cry. She thus became unhappy and tried to understand the meaning of life and death in her own terms. She came back home, but did not share a word about the trip with her family.
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