{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"technotimes.info","provider_url":"https:\/\/technotimes.info","author_name":"Medha Malik","author_url":"https:\/\/technotimes.info\/index.php\/author\/medha-malik\/","title":"A BUS RIDE - technotimes.info","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"tr9ylOV5CU\"><a href=\"https:\/\/technotimes.info\/index.php\/2024\/09\/18\/a-bus-ride-2\/\">A BUS RIDE<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/technotimes.info\/index.php\/2024\/09\/18\/a-bus-ride-2\/embed\/#?secret=tr9ylOV5CU\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;A BUS RIDE&#8221; &#8212; technotimes.info\" data-secret=\"tr9ylOV5CU\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/technotimes.info\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n","description":"9:55 PM\u2026 The bus carrying an overwhelming amount of passengers, now gave adeserted look. There were just six passengers on the bus now. Meanwhile thecity at night looked bleak and seemingly unusual now. Why not, the city wasshook upon hearing the horrific news about the gruesome rape and murderof a minor girl couple of days ago. There were heavy protest and unrest allover. I didn&#8217;t wanted to think about this further as news like this weren&#8217;tmade for a weak-hearted person like me. I looked around the bus and saw that there were five men including me and agirl in the bus now. Nowadays, it is tough to differentiate among peoplewhether who is actually nice and who is not. I had a sudden gut feeling thatthere would be someone was eyeing on the girl with not so good intentions.To make the girl feel safe despite being called a coward all my life and hearingupon the recent horrific news, I decided to keep a check on the other menwho were in the bus. It gave me flashbacks of my past when one day when I was around 14-15years old, I was playing with my cousin who was younger than me was beingteased by a group of boys who were elder and stronger than me. When sheasked me for help, I couldn&#8217;t do anything. Thankfully, a young man came andmade them run away and she was saved. However, her eyes made it look likethat she lost trust on me. When my friends got to hear this, they startedcalling me coward and till this day I regret not being able to save her. &#8220;Not today.&#8221; I said to myself. I took a deep breath and made sure if something happens to the young girl,I&#8217;ll try my best to save her. I was sitting towards the opposite side to the girl so it was easy to keep aneye on. I was getting down at the last stop so it wasn&#8217;t a worry for me. Thegirl looked like she was in her early 20&#8217;s just like me. Out of the four men ,three of them men were middle aged while the other was an elderly man. The next stop arrived, I thought one of them would get up. Nobody got up.The conductor asked if anyone was getting down, no one replied. Thesituation was starting to become a little more eerie . I looked at those menand no one stared at the girl. I thought may be at the next stop one of themwould get up. I and other men now started making slight eye contact witheach other now. The next stop arrived and nobody got up again. Now, I was assured there wassomething wrong. I remember my crush calling me a &#8220;Dog&#8221; jokingly becauseshe thought I was the best guy with an amazing gut feeling and a sense tosmell something fishy quickly just like dogs. I know that it was a weirdcompliment but I took it seriously because of obvious reasons. Never in a million years would all the passengers get up at the last stoptogether. The slight eye-contact were no more slight. Things became moreeerie. We glanced at each other now and definitely thought there wassomething wrong. Amidst all this, a phone rang which was of one of themiddle aged man and the girl who seemed distracted on her phone glancedupon to take a look inside the bus once. We hurriedly looked away so thatshe doesn&#8217;t think that she was in some sort of trouble. But one man didn&#8217;t.He kept looking at that girl. He wore a mask and now when everyone didn&#8217;ttake the presence of Covid pandemic seriously, I thought he was the one. Inoticed her eyes. She was looking very sad and was in the verge of tears. Sheglanced at that man who was looking at her. Was she in danger from that man? I saw the old man reviving his younger days by pulling his sleeves likehe would beat the crap out of him. The last stop arrived, we four of us were ready to protect the girl from theman who we thought was the one. The girl got up and the man followed him.One of the middle aged man pulled that man&#8217;s collar from behind withoutthe girl noticing and intervened him. The old man asked why he wasfollowing and harassing a young girl. The man was startled by their words.Suddenly a voice from the girl broke out : &#8220;Papa&#8221; The middle aged man removed his hands from the collar and left the man. There was an awkward silence that followed after: &#8220;Papa, I&#8217;m sorry I couldn&#8217;t win the debate competition&#8221; &#8220;No worries, beta you gave your best and your mom must be proud of it too&#8221; &#8221; I promised mama that I would win it for her&#8221; The man looked at us and was interrupted by his daughter. &#8221; Is there something wrong Papa?&#8221; &#8220;No beta, let&#8217;s go home your mom must be waiting for us&#8221; As the conversation went ahead, my accusations was proven to be wrongthat there was a creep and was relieved. I felt a little happy that there wereother men who were trying to protect the girl from any kind of danger. But what followed after was shocking. The three men went to the other side of the road, didn&#8217;t talk to each otherand I just realized they had get up at the previous stops. I was numb onseeing this. Were the other three men creeps? Or they didn&#8217;t got up at their respectivestops just because they thought there was someone who could harm the girl.Questions were aplenty on my mind. For a moment, we all were dangerousto each other eyes and realized it&#8217;s difficult to find that one perpetrator whowanders around with us in our daily life. We all are suspects to one anotherand among this quiet chaos the real suspect fades silently killing their victimswhile we guess the suspect like a game of Russian roulette. &#8220;Why didn&#8217;t you pick up the call, I&#8217;ve sent"}