I embarked on a solo journey from Frankfurt to make an ambitious memory of backpacking in the Europe alone. I had already visited places with my husband and then sent him packing to India along with some of my luggage.
With my Eurail Pass in hand, I was off to Interlaken. It was about 7 p.m., and I got down and bought myself a frozen pizza at Coop at the station. I was surprised to find the roads empty, not a soul in sight. I waited at a bus stop to take a bus to my hostel. Hours passed and I saw a bus, and I boarded it. Once the bus took off, I asked if I could pay by card since I only had a 100 Euro note. The bus driver did not accept cards and he would give the change only in Swiss Francs. I didn’t see a choice. I opened my purse to find it empty. I very clearly knew I had 100 Euros. I frantically opened my backpack and started rummaging it. And then it hit me, that single note was very carefully tucked in a jeans pocket that I sent off with my husband. It was probably flying over Middle East by now.
Never one to be able to hide my emotions, I started to panic. The driver said there was an ATM at the next stop. I asked him if he would wait for me, he couldn’t. When was the next bus? There probably wasn’t any.
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I was this close to tears, ready to get down and walk into a dark night in an unknown city whose language I did not speak. Let me tell you something about me. Being brave is not my strongest suit. The driver looked at me pitifully and said, “Okay, I will drop you anyway. I trod back to my seat, the ignominy of not having money, of being pitied upon, taking charity and then a looming thought of how I would represent my country. What would they think of Brown Asian people?”
I don’t know what the driver and the rest of the passengers thought of me having no money but they definitely saw the complete meltdown of a brown girl. And then he told me where to get down, I did and very purposefully walked in the opposite direction of my hostel. The driver honked and helped me again.
I am very conscious of representing India in the right way whenever I am abroad. I do count my pennies but is not someone in for cheap freebies. The hostel gave a free pass to ride any bus as long as I stayed there. The next day, I scanned a few buses for the driver. Here is another something about me. I can’t really remember faces. So I did the one thing I could do, maybe stupid, maybe not so generous. I bought a ticket though I had a pass. I didn’t feel like owing the Swiss Government anything.
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I definitely owe the bus driver. He renewed my faith in humanity with his small act of kindness.
janu.inuganti@gmail.com