One evening while commuting back home, the bus was unusually crowded. I got a seat after some standing, that too adjusted one. So three of us were seating on one seat! And those who were standing were almost hugging each other.( Hahahaha).

Suddenly there was a commotion from behind, where the men are seated and stand when they dont get seats to sit.

All heads turned behind to see two young chaps grappling with each other. But not all of us could see since the bus was heavily crowded. From the many noises, I could gather that one person's mobile phone was missing and he was accusing the other person. Now for convenience, I shall call these two guys as 'the guy wearing red Tee' and the other guy as 'the guy wearing blue'.

The guy in red was accusing the guy in blue of stealing his mobile phone. Now, the guy in blue was heavily drunk too. And the passengers all wanted that the bus be stopped. Even the bus conductor was hurling abuses at the guy in blue and whisttled for the bus to stop. So the guy in blue and the guy in red got down at the nearest Police Station to settle the matter.

And the bus moved on. But discussions were on about the theft. And the conductor was narrating how when he was issuing the tickets, he actually saw the guy in blue trying to dig his hand in the pocket of another fellow passenger. Some more abuses from him.

And after a while he gradually came to the ladies standing to issue tickets. When one lady said, 'My brother at the back has taken our tickets.'

The conductor: 'Which is your brother?'

The woman:' There, behind '. But the conductor still was not sure which one. So he asked 'Who exactly?'

The woman: ' The one in black pants'.

There were several guys with black pants. And then one person asked: 'Was your brother wearing a red Tee?'

The woman: 'Yes, yes, he is the one'.

Then the conductor told her that he got down to go to the police station. And another person chipped in and asked the woman :'Do you have your Cell phone?'

'Yes, I do. Here it is'. She said and flashed the cell phone.

There were a lot of Ha s and hos from the passengers. And the same person who asked if the woman had her cell said: ' I told you people, that the guy was dressed so decently, he can't be a thief, but the conductor insisted that he is the thief'.

Many voices came from the passengers now:' Stop the bus, stop it. That boy has not stolen the phone. Let the ladies get down and show the phone at the Police Station'.

But this time the conductor did not whistle for the bus to stop. He was busy defending himself because some passengers were now accusing him of acting in haste.

He kept his stance of having seen the young man's fingers in someone's else's pocket.

All this conversation was going on in Telugu and I could just about understand what was happening but could not interfere since there were already too many of them talking all at once.

Then there was one senior citizen who was a freedom fighter ( I know since I saw him flashing his pass), who said somewhat with authority to stop the bus. The conductor wanted to stop only at a bus stop and not somewhere in the middle.

And I was wondering when he wanted to send the guys to the Police Station, he could whistle the bus to a halt at whatever place he desired and when the guy is proven to be innocent, he has to stop it at the designated stop! How gross!

But eventually he did stop and the ladies got down. But I could sense that most of us were feeling sorry for the guy in blue.

Is being drunk an evidence of being a thief? Granted that drinking is a social evil but that does not make a person criminal. And why do people act in haste? They could have searched the person?

So much for the law that says a person is innocent till proven guilty. It is always the reverse. People always think a person is guilty till proven innocent. That is the reason we are judgmental and act in haste!

I hoped that not much damage was done to the guy in blue at the Police Station in these few minutes. Knowing the behaviour of the Police, it is imaginable the damage that must have been caused to the innocent guy's morale.

I sighed as I got down the bus at my destination and my mind was now focused on crossing the busy street. I have a phobia crossing these busy streets!