There was a girl named Valliammai. She was called Valli for short. She was eight years old. She wanted to know many things. She would stand in the front door way of her house. She would see what was happening outside. She had no playmates.
Watching the things gave Valli many unusual experiences. There ran a bus between her village and the nearest town. Valli got great joy in seeing new sets of passengers. So day after day she watched the bus. She soon developed a wish to ride on that bus.
Valli’s wish to ride the bus became stronger and stronger. She thought that if a friend described her riding in the bus she would downplay her. She would speak English word “Proud! Proud !” though she did not know the meaning.
Valli listened to the talks of the persons who travelled in the bus. This way, she leamt about small details of the journey. She now knew that the town was six miles away. The fare was thirty paise one way. The time of the ride was forty-five minutes. She also knew how she would return. Thus she planned before starting the ride.
One fine spring day Valli rode in the bus in the afternoon. The conductor was jolly and fond of joking. He understood that Valli spoke with pride. He offered Valli a front seat calling others to make way for ‘madam’. There were only six or seven passengers in the bus. They were looking at Valli. They were laughing with the conductor. Valli felt it insulting.
Valli studies everything inside and outside
Valli studied everything in the bus. It had soft and comfortable seats. It had a beautiful clock above the wind screen. She looked outside. But she had to stand up on the seat because of the curtain. The bus was going along the bank of a canal. She saw palm trees, mountains and the blue sky. On the other side there were green fields.
Suddenly an elderly person asked Valli not to stand up calling her ‘child’. Valli got angry. She replied proudly that she was not a ‘child’. She had paid full price (fare) like others. The conductor was humorous. He told the elderly person that Valli was a grown-up ‘madam’. Valli looked at the conductor angrily. She told him that she was not a ‘madam’. And he had not yet given her the ticket. The conductor gave her a ticket.
The conductor told Valli to sit comfortably. She should not stand. But Valli said she wanted to. He told her that she would fall and hurt on sharp turns. He called Valli “child”. At this Valli said that she was not a “child”. She told that she was eight years old.
At the next stand an elderly woman came and sat beside Valli. The woman asked Valli if she was alone. Valli looked at the woman. She had ugly earrings. She had betel nut in her mouth. Betel juice was likely to come out of her mouth. At this Valli replied that she was alone and had got a ticket. The conductor added the same thing. Valli asked him why he didn’t mind his own business. She then laughed with the conductor.
The woman told Valli that it was not proper for her to travel alone. She asked Valli about her house. Valli replied that she needn’t bother about her. She turned her face towards the window.
Valli had saved sixty paise for the bus journey with sacrifices. She had resisted the desire to buy toys, balloons etc. She had also killed her desire to ride in a merry-go-round. She had planned her first journey for long. She had stood at the front of her house to plan about it.
The bus now rode across a bare landscape. Trees came running towards them. They rushed when the bus moved. Sometime the bus seemed to strike the oncoming vehicle. But both passed by safely.
Suddenly a cow with raised tail came in front of the bus. The bus slowed to a crawl. The driver sounded the horn again and again. But the cow continued running before the bus. Valli clapped her hands with joy. She laughed and laughed. The conductor told her to save some laughter for the next day.
The bus passed by the side of a railway crossing. Then it came to a thoroughfare. There were big and bright shops. There were huge crowds of people. Valli gaped at everything. At last the bus reached the town. The conductor asked Valli to get down. But she told that she was going back on the same bus. She gave the coins for the ticket to the conductor.
The conductor asked Valli what the matter was. Valli told him that it was nothing. She felt like having a bus ride. The conductor asked if she won’t have a look at the sights. Valli replied that she was afraid of that. He asked her if she wasn’t afraid to come in the bus.
The conductor asked Valli to have a cold drink. Valli told that she had not enough money. She asked for the ticket. The conductor offered her the drink from his own side. But Valli refused to accept the offer. The conductor asked Valli if her mother won’t look for her. Valli replied thjit no one would. They waited for the return journey.
The bus started again. There were the same wonderful sights. Valli was not bored. But suddenly she saw a young cow lying dead by the roadside. It had been struck by some fast- moving vehicle.
Valli asked the conductor if that dead cow wasn’t the same they had seen earlier. The conductor nodded. Valli got sad. The cow had looked earlier lovable and beautiful. But now it looked horrible in its death.
The bus moved. The memory of the dead cow haunted Valli. She no longer wanted to see outside. She sat glued to the seat as a sad person. The bus reached the village. Valli told the conductor to see again. The conductor smiled. He told Valli to come and join them whenever she felt like riding the bus. She must bring the fare with her. Valli laughed and alighted. But the death of the cow had changed Valli.
Valli reached home. She found her aunt living in the South Street talking with her mother.’She was a real chatterbox. She asked Valli where she had gone. Valli didn’t reply. She just smiled. Valli heard her mother saying that no one can know about everything. So many things happen. Valli replied in positive.
Valli’s aunt reacted. She called Valli a chit of a girl. She took interest in things that didn’t concern her. She behaved as if she were a grown lady. Valli smiled to herself. She didn’t want them to understand her smile. There was not much chance of that either.
Question 1: What was Valli’s favourite pastime?
Answer: As Valli had no playmate of her age, so her favourite pastime was to stand in her doorway and watch the street. The street outside used to be full of activities which were enough to keep her amused and engaged.
Question 2: What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?
Answer: The bus was a source of unending joy for her. The bus used to bring a new set of passengers every-time it came from the town. The diversity of people, their activities were a treat to watch for Valli. Her strongest desire was to take a ride in the bus at least once.
Question 3: What did Valli find out about the bus journey? How did she find out these details?
Answer: Valli tried to listen to her neighbours to get the desired information about the bus journey. She would ask some discrete questions to get more information. She got information about distance of the town from her village and the total journey time it usually took.
Question 4: What do you think Valli was planning to do?
Answer: Till now information provided in the story indicate towards her plan to fulfill her strongest desire which was to go on a bus ride.
Question 5: Why does the conductor call Valli ‘madam’?
Answer: Valli is trying to behave more mature than her age. She is trying to look overconfident and smart. The conductor is amused at her behaviour and in an effort to tease her calls her ‘madam’.
Question 6: Why does Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?
Answer: Valli’s view was obstructed because of a canvas blind on the window and because of her small height as well she was unable to have a good view outside. She stood up on her seat to have a better view of the scenery outside. She could see a canal with palm trees, grasslands, distant mountains and blue sky as backdrop. On the other side there was a ditch followed by vast tract of greenery.
Question 7: What does Valli tell the elderly man when he calls her a child?
Answer: Valli doesn’t like to be called a child. She thinks that she is grown up. She says that she had paid her full fair the way adults do. This is typical behaviour shown by many kids of Valli’s age.
Question 8: Why didn’t Valli want to make friends with the elderly woman?
Answer: The elderly woman was having big earlobes with bigger holes. She chewing betel nut and the betel juice was about to seep out of her mouth. She was giving a sight of unrefined elderly lady. That is why Vaali did not want to make friends with her.
Question 9: How did Valli save up money for her first journey? Was it easy for her?
Answer: Valli saved every coin that came her way. She made great sacrifices by controlling her normal childish urges of having candies, toys and joyrides. This must have been difficult for her. Kids find it very difficult to savour a candy or to enjoy a toy.
Question 10: What did Valli see on her way that made her laugh?
Answer: A scared cow was running for her life in the middle of the road. It was jumping with tails up. The more incessantly bus driver honked the more furious its scamper became. Valli could not control her laughter after seeing this.
Question 11: Why didn’t she get off the bus at the bus station?
Answer: She did not know anything about the town so was afraid of getting lost. Moreover, her meticulous savings plan allowed her enough money to buy only tickets for her journey. Additionally, she had to return before her mother could find her missing.
Question 12: Why didn’t Valli want to go to the stall and have a drink? What does this tell you about her?
Answer: She did not want to take obligation from the conductor. This indicates that she is taught of not taking anything from strangers. She may be a small child but she knows how to behave properly in the outside world.
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