"The wheels of the bus go round & round"
I was reciting this nursery rhyme in my mind
As I hopped onto a multi axle evening time volvo bus
That would take me from Mumbai to Bangalore
The bus wasn't completely occupied
But there were sufficient people
I noticed all of this as I was finding my seat
It was a sleeper bus so the seats were technically beds
The choices were : upper / lower / double / single
And each type of bed had curtains to give privacy to the passengers
I found my lower birth single bed and settled down for the 18 hour long journey
As was customary in all long journey buses
They played a movie for us to watch
On the small screens in front of each bed
The movie was a boring horror film
I fell asleep as I was watching it
And only woke up when the bus stopped
And the conductor announced that we would be halting for dinner for 20 minutes
After dinner the conductor did his head check
To make sure that all passengers were in their seats
And the bus moved on from there
We had covered a quater of the distance
Three quarters were still left
I was totally satiated after a good and hearty meal
And I settled down to go to sleep
The bus lights dimmed
Allowing the passengers the perfect setting to fall asleep
That's exactly when my horror story started
I was fast asleep
I was dreaming
Suddenly I felt something
I felt someones hand moving
From my vagina to my thigh
A caressing movement
And slowly the hand started to move inside my pants
I couldnt make out if I was dreaming it
Or was it really happening
This went on for about 45 minutes
Then suddenly the truth dawned on me and I woke up with a start
It wasnt my dream
It was really happening
I pulled open my curtain to find the conductor of the bus
Lying on the floor next to my bed
He gave me a dirty toothed grin
Got up
And went to sit with the driver
I sat on my bed shivering
I didnt have the guts to scream or create a scene in the middle of the night
I was in a miserable shock
I was just 18 years old
Still a child in some ways
I didnt know what to do so I sat quiet and tried to go back to sleep
But sleep evaded me
I was scared that it would happen again
Early in the morning
The bus stopped again for breakfast and tea
We still had one quarter of the journey left to complete
The first thing I did was call my mother in Bangalore and tell her what happened
She scolded me for not creating a scene then and there
But she swore she would not let the bastard go unpunished
When the bus stopped at it's Bangalore office
And it was time to get off
I got off tentatively
I saw my mother standing there with her friends
And I ran into her arms
Crying
She held me tight and told me not to be afraid
She gave me all her love and strength in that embrace
We went into the office
And mom and her friends created a huge scene there
The conductor was brutally whipped with a barbed belt for his crime
And he deserved it
Just because a girl is travelling alone
It doesnt give any man the right to molest her
Thats when my mom taught me how to be strong
And how to avenge myself in such situations
Because such situations are prevalent everywhere
But a girl has to know how to defend herself
When the time comes to do so
So here's a message to all the men out there
You better watch out
Cause this girl ain't takin no shit anymore!