Back in my Bangalore days, buses were my go-to medium for transportation.
The diversity of my co-passengers used to fascinate me.
There were college students, young professionals, top MNC executives, normal people out for household chores, and many more.
To lower my phone addiction, I had a rule of not using my phone on the bus. Therefore my favorite pastime was ogling at others’ phones.
Someone will be using TikTok, some Instagram, while a few were busy learning through online courses. I loved judging people by their phone activities.
Once a guy seated next to me received a call.
By force of habit, I glanced at his screen and the name displayed was Jaan followed by a heart emoji.
Jaan means Life in English. People usually use it for someone really special like a life partner.
My immediate train of thought was, “Seriously! even this guy has a girlfriend.”
By the time the guy answered the call, I analyzed all the possibilities.
Probably they may have met in college, or maybe they are office colleagues.
Saving her name as Jaan♥ was a bit lame. They must call each other every day during the commute. And so on.
But the instant he answered the call, I was infused with shame.
His words were, “Hi Ma”
I built envy towards a guy assuming that he had a girlfriend, but it turned out to be his mother.
After making numerous imaginary apologies to my fellow co-passengers I realized a strange thing.
For many people, moms are still their first love, and rightfully so.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the lovely moms out there.
