Apr 11, 2012

Roadside Sleepers

Today, just as I was walking home, I saw by the road, something that I am so very afraid to do myself.
I saw a man sleeping. No I am not afraid of sleeping, but the idea of sleeping in public horrifies me. What if someone mugs you or steals your money?
I looked at that man, dozing off comfortably in his plastic chair.

If you live in India, you would also be familiar with the sight of drivers sleeping in parked cars while the owners are away shopping or eating or doing whatsoever. If you aren't, just walk through a parking lot of a local market and you'll see what I mean.

Now even though I have never been on a public bus, I see them everyday. I see the crowding, and the shoving and also, the dozing off. Sleeping on DTC buses seems like a nightmare. First of all, how can one fall asleep in a place which is so stuffed, that it is possible for people to fall out of the windows!
Secondly, how do you know that the man sitting next to you will not pull out your wallet while you are happily dreaming?
Taking advantage of the situation

And thirdly, how does one wake up when their stop arrives? Is it an instinctual thing to just wake up when you get home or is the driver kind enough to wake you up and drive you back home when he notices that you are the only one who did not get off at the last stop?

All through my 14 years at school, I have never been able to fall asleep in class! Not that I used to be extremely interested in what the teachers were saying, but simply because I was afraid of what hell i would have to go through if I were caught. (And partly because I knew that my friends weren't kind enough to not take advantage of the situation.)

To all those who feel the same way, welcome to the club! And to all those who are trying to figure out why I'm fretting about sleeping in public, please tell me how you do it. 

2 comments:

Writing Buddha said...

Hahaha.. Start sleeping once, you will get to know that nothing happens with good people. :-)

Payal Lal said...

haha! i'll try my best!