Mein Aur Meri *STARLINE Aksar Yeh Batay Kurtay Hain Agar Tum Na Hoti…

The General Public: “Now we have got those new buses on the road, then why should there be the mini buses, coaches and the other public buses? The government should hire more of those huge, good and comfortable buses and simply eradicate the signs of those DANGEROUS VEHICLES!”

Through this general view, what I gather from the public is that they are very selfish. They are actually ruling out the point that there are many others who are being benefited by the so-called road-killers, the public buses. These vehicles not only provide an “unsafe” means of travel but they rather generate a whole different and diverse set of occupations. One would be quite surprised by this theory of mine, but this aspect of my thought is there because I am totally uninfluenced by the selfishness of a human character. I don’t just sit in the bus to reach to my destination but I also look around, observe the surrounding, and feel who else is breathing the same air I am inhaling and exhaling. You never know which one is just breathing for the last time. Thanks to the road-killers!

Daily we see so many beggars around us. Can anyone tell me the amount they would be earning from their work? No. However, one can definitely judge that very few of them are the actual needy ones. These buses provide, such beggars, with a platform to bump up their daily earnings. All they need to do is, stand at a bus stop wait for any one of those thousands to come and then just step up to gather some bucks. A little of acting, a lot of fake stories, a weak and filled tear gland and a public bus is the formula to their day’s bread or rather more than just a bread; a hearty meal. Therefore, what a bus provides them daily with is their easy survival, yes definitely through their working capabilities only!

Along with such “innocent” beggars around, we get to see some sales in the bus as well. Sounds like a cheap one but who can trust on the quality they are providing you with. Say it is the pen, which they make you test, but later after an hour, it stops working, or it is the fruit they are selling. To a few, they may be a lot helpful but only because they are lazy enough not to go to the market. Buying from them means wastage of money and buying the same thing again. The good thing is that one gets to know what’s new in the market or rather how skillful our workers are. They surely make money from it because people tend to get fooled easily and fascinated too. This is the reason that such sellers hardly come again with the same selling item because they themselves are aware of the quality. Then again, a huge number of such buses provide them with a good profit on daily basis then why should they bother about maintaining credibility.

Our poor traffic controllers, who stand under the scorching heat bearing so much of noise from everywhere seems to benefit the most out of these killers. For it be the fixed amount they take daily (bhatta) or through the traffic tickets. Considering the driving and behavior of bus-drivers, they get a better chance to fill up their pockets. By taking full advantage of their uniform, they easily money-mint through them and the drivers very casually break the road laws. Therefore, in this case, the scenario is kind of one-one.

A passenger, male/female, steps down from the bus and suddenly realizes that his wallet/her mobile is missing. Ahannnnnnn!!! Now what?? Stop traveling in bus? Stop carrying a wallet or a mobile? How to secure oneself from these pickpockets? Stupid! If one will tell you a way to secure yourself then how will these people eat their bread? Now at least they can sell the theft item, or gift it to a girlfriend or make someone happy through it. See, how many lives can be saved through the buses- a home for the happiness givers (thieves).

Last but definitely not the least, the female admirers can never be excluded from any BUS topic. After all, they are also busy doing something at least. No, no one should blame them because they are utilizing their time, by admiring god’s work. Obviously to praise His creation one will have to ogle, then feel and then obviously pass the PRAISING comments as well! Else how will the other person know how great God and His creation is. So, can you feel that these buses are now even helping the people in praising and thanking God? However, except for losing their self-respect they are actually doing nothing. In monetary terms they are not earning anything but in passionate sense ummmmmm… I have no comments.

I think these much points are more than enough to validate my theory that buses provide some people with work as well. Work, which either returns money or fulfils desires. If these dangerous vehicles were stopped then so many people would be deprived of so many things. As, there are still many people who can proudly say that: Mein aur meri “starline” aksar yeh batay kurtay hain kay agar tum na hoti …………tau mein khata kahan say, mein zinda kaisay rehta, mein murta kaisay, mein husn ko samjhta kaisay? (In English: Me and my “starline” are mostly talking that if you would not have been there then ……….how would I have eaten, how would I have survived, how would I have died, how would I have understood beauty?)


*: “Starline” is a name of a public bus in Karachi, Pakistan.