Shoe'Napped' - Part 03 (Final)

I think the title would have brought in a great sense of relief. True ain't?
Here we go.

LOCATION : Bus terminus of "B18"
TIME : 11:45PM

The site was truly amazing. You get to realize the service provided by these transport corporations on such occasions only. Otherwise all we know is to curse them when a bus is late, or any situation for that matter.

There was this table with a bunch of supervisors who had these really huge registers which marks all the technical details, relevant only to them. And according to these gentlemen also, I was an unexpected alien who has entered into their office on such an odd time to take their lives off. Politely, I approached a person over there and I told him that I missed my pair of shoes on the latest service of "B18" (God!! How many times do I have to repeat this sick bus route number?). He immediately asked me if I had the ticket, so that he could identify the exact bus in which I have made the mess. I readily answered with a loud 'Yes' and all I did was to take out a bunch of papers (all of them being bus tickets) from my left pocket.

It took a little time for me to actually identify the exact ticket that was required to be shown to them. But, fortunately this guy asked me to quit doing that, as sounded like had almost found out the probable bus and he was questioning his subordinates in a loud tone if that bus had arrived at the terminus, and the answers given were all doubtful for conclusions to be made.

While all these talks we going on, I saw the very same "B18" entering into the terminus. I got super excited. Can still remember the scene. It was like your typical examination results. Do or die. The result of your investments on time, energy and thoughts for the last few hours, is going to be revealed now. So, you would get to know, if you are doing meaningful things or not. The diameter of both my eyes were at its all time high.

I took no time to tell the supervisor that it was this bus in which I had traveled. He then asked me to go ahead and see if it is still inside the bus. I almost ran like a school kid running out of the school building after the last hour's bell. The driver and the conductor were switching the lights off and were about the close the automatic doors of the bus, and I quickly intervened to tell them that I did so and so, in so and so time from so and so place to so and so place, all in this bus. Again, without any surprise (for me), the bus conductor was able to recognize me. Thanks to my dashing looks even during odd times of the day!! He told me that he remembered me and allowed me to get inside the bus and search for my bag of shoes.

I jumped into the bus with not less than 100% confidence in my heart which was beating as fast as the speed in which my brain works (without any sense, at times) . The shoe-bag was NOT there under the seats. It took time for me to believe the truth involved. I kept looking under all the seats, but in vain. If you think in the other way (or in a sensible way), this definitely should not be of a great shock to me. You leave your shoe on a bus which is used by thousands of commuters on a single day, and you are optimistic about getting it back. I had to tell myself that attempts like these would end up successful only once out of a hundred times.

I came out of the bus with my heads down (like a doctor coming out of the operation theater, when his patient is dead) and told the bus conductor that the bag was not there inside and must have been taken by somebody. I still could not digest the fact that I have really missed my shoes, mainly because the toughest part was to end up reaching the terminus, than finding the bus and searching inside it, considering the time of the day you have done all these. I announced the end result to the conductor and the driver and headed back towards the exit gate of the terminus.

But this time, I was not as disgusted as I was when I came to know that the shoes were left missed out in the bus itself. At least, a sense of satisfaction was there because of the effort and the adventure that took place the last few hours.

LOCATION : Bus terminus of "B18"
TIME : 12:00AM

Now, an ever tougher task ahead. How the hell do I reach back home? I had no clue on how far I was, from the nearest landmark that I knew, to guide myself. The road was nearly empty and an auto-rickshaw approached towards me and the driver asked me the place that I wanted to go. I told him that I wanted to go to the broadway terminus, and he demanded me an amount, which I thought was high because of two simple reasons.

• I had no idea about the distance I had to travel to
• I did not want to spend such an amount after having leaned on to the losing side of a battle which started because of a minor defect on my mental reflex

But this time, I told the auto guy that I do not want to give such an amount as I have traveled a long way from nowhere to here and having ended up losing my shoes. He then reduced the amount that he quoted and headed back. And this was the conversation.

Auto Guy : What was the price of the shoes when you purchased this pair of shoes?
Me : 1500 bucks.
Auto Guy : Why did you travel all the way for shoes that costs just 1500? You should have returned back home and should have had a good sleep.
Me : Its ok. Thanks. I would consider the auto fare as sight seeing charges for the northern part of the city (with a lot of embarrassment within inside)

I reached home at around 1AM.

What a tragic day!!! And what a tragic suspense to this story!!!!