Page 2 - LN1-MADAM RIDES THE BUS MODULE
P. 2
Key points
The story is about an eight year girl named Valliammai. She was very curious to know
about things.
Her favourite pastime was to stand at the front doorway of her house and see what
was happening in the street outside.
She would watch the bus that passed every half an hour from her village to the
nearest town.
She developed a desire to ride the bus. This became her deepest desire.
Valli found out the details of the bus journey by listening carefully to the
conversations between her neighbours and regular bus users.
She came to know that the town was just six miles from her village and the fare was
thirty paise one way. The trip took forty-five minutes.
Valli planned her visit to the town. She saved sixty paise for the fare. Finally she took
the one o’clock bus to the town.
The conductor was a jolly short of person. He amused Valli with her light hearted
remarks. He calls her ‘MADAM’ by way of joke.
Valli was very happy to have got into the bus. She saw outside through the window.
She could see the canal, the palm trees, grassland, distant mountains and the blue
sky.
She met some passengers in the bus. She got annoyed when an elderly man called
her a child. She disliked the elderly woman for her shabby look and didn’t prefer to
talk to her.
On the way to the town, Valli saw a frightened cow running right in front of the bus.
She clapped gleefully as the cow ran faster.
Valli did not get off the bus at the town. She did not want to go to the stall and have
a drink because she had no money. She also declined the offer of a cold drink by the
conductor. It tells us that she is a self-respecting girl and can overcome temptation.
On the return journey, she saw the same cow lying dead by the roadside. This
unpleasant sight made her very sad.
She was a sensitive girl.
The bus reached the village at three forty. She got down the bus and reached her
home. Her mother did not come to know about her journey.
Summary
This is a sensitive story of an eight year old girl’s first bus journey into the world outside her
village .The girl Valli, at a very tender age, tries to understand the mystery of life and death.
The outside world for Valli is charming and fascinating but mysterious. She longs to
experience it by herself. The talks of the village people about the town added fuel to the
fire. She decides to go to the town all by herself without anybody’s support. She asked the
bus conductor to take her to the town. She herself paid her fare. She wanted to devour
everything with her eyes. She saw the canal, palm tree, grass land, distant mountain and the
blue sky. She also saw great stretch of green field as far as the eye could see. She was
overjoyed when she saw a cow running with her raised tail on the road ahead of the bus.
