Todd and I had an unusual experience on the bus this morning. I was lucky enough to be sitting, and Todd was standing a few feet away. An older Indian man got on and stood between us. At first I didn't pay any attention, but then I realized something about him wasn't right. As the bus moved, he rocked back and forth with a lot of jerks in his movement. There isn't anything particularly unusually about this since the bus rides in Kolkata are very bumpy. There was something else unusual about his rocking, however. It didn't stop while the bus was stopped. He kept rocking back and forth with unnaturally jerky movements. It seemed like his body was responding to forces that only existed in his world. He seemed completely unaware of the world around him. A snot icicle began to form from his upper lip. He took no notice of it, although I certainly did since he was kind of standing over me!
After a while, the fare collector decided he didn't want the man on the bus. He got the bus to stop, then peeled the man's hands from the bars they were clinging to. Other than that, the man put up no resistance and the bus drove away leaving him sitting on the side of the street.
The experience left me with a multitude of unanswered questions. What was going on with the man? Was he drunk? Handicapped? Did he have a stroke while standing on the bus? Why did the fare collector want him off? Had the man failed to pay his fare? Did the strange behavior of this man make the fare collector uncomfortable? Lastly, although I didn't understand what was going on, was there anything I could have done to help the situation?
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