Spanner in work

 You all might have heard about the راستے کا پتھر and may have come across many spanners in works. 

For instance, a black cat crosses your path of superstition, forcing you to turn back home, as there might be a terrible danger awaiting you. On the contrary, as you cross its path, the cat might be equally terrified and prone to getting into an accident.
Another راستے کا پتھر that you may encounter and combat in your life is the necessary nuisance; sneaky relative. Not necessarily poor, but your relationship can be as poor as the beggars around the nook. Now, whatever you do, it's their utmost duty to intervene and have their unnecessary say about you and your life choices. Bear with them and keep your life as invisible as you can.

These are superstitious spanners, hauling your growth, task, or work. However, there is another extraordinary kind of spanners in work that you may bump into. And believe me, bumping into these spanners will make your heart bleed. In fact, they may also give you physical injuries or mental torture for prolonged periods.

Now, what are these spanners in your work??

"coke ki botlain"

Not the coke that we enjoy our meal with; in fact love it,  despite its black color and our sick mentality of being inclined towards the white color. These are the coke ki botlain, walking fearlessly in the middle of roads disrupting a smoothly going traffic: the women in shuttlecock veils! Wherever you would see one shuttlecock veil moving around, escape to a safe spot without sparing a second; if you don't want to end up in trouble.

I didn't know how troublesome they can be until I actually had to work very hard to remove this last type of spanner on my way to work.

One morning, a terrible alarm sound pierced my eardrums, bringing me back from the wonderlands of my dream. I rummaged my hand around the pillow to find the evil (my phone), screaming at this time. After I lulled the monster under the pillow and laid leisurely on my spot, thinking about traveling back to the realm of dreams, I caught sight of the wall clock. 

It was 6:15, and I was no Alice from the wonderland who could spend time in the maze or the mad hatter's tea party; instead, I was a teacher who had to catch a bus at 6:40.

If you have been following my blog, you'd know that most of my life is about running; running to the bus stop, running to get ready, running to get food, rushing out of the beggars, more running, some more running, and finally, a lot of running... 

So

Next thing, I sprang out of bed and rushed to get ready, packed my lunch box, and ran to the BRT stop to catch the bus in time. As I entered the station, I saw the green signal for the bus' arrival (Thanks to Allah for blessing me with the eyesight of an eagle). Galloping my way through the crowd, I rushed to reach the bus before the door closed; and, fortunately, made it in time.

I pulled my fists back and let out a tiny "Yes!" on this small accomplishment at the start of the day. Only if I knew the end of the journey won't be as fortunate as the start.

I had grabbed my sister's earphones before leaving, which meant the morning was to get more musical and cherishing. I plugged them in to avoid brawls and gibberish around me and peeked outside the glass window. It was a cloudy morning with growing patches of blue, a blue that was bright and soft at the same time. The clouds were brilliantly white, like the pages from a new book for curious eyes, drifting lazily with the breeze aimlessly. All of this seemed like the perfect start, with a tinge of music from Coke Studio.

After some time, I checked the digital screen, displaying the name of the station where the bus was to land next. As my destination was close, I tied my camels for the arduous journey towards the bus's door. If you travel in BRT, you must know the struggle of making your way through the crowd inside the bus, where at least 10 people waiting desperately for you to leave the seat, which they can take over. There would be more brawls in a bus than the political leaders in our country.

Well,

I didn't know a giant Spanner waiting to haul my way to work. As I moved towards the door, a big "Coke ki bottle" (woman in shuttlecock veil) stood in front of the door, unshaken of any voice or disturbance. I forgot about the song playing in my ears and asked the woman politely to leave the way, but she didn't move an inch. Seemed my efforts were utterly heedless as she could not hear the politeness or intentionally turned a deaf ear to my pleading. 

Soon, I foresaw that the situation was serious, and I had to let go of the politeness and Tarbiyat to get out of the bus before the door closing ceremony and reach my workplace on time. I grabbed the shuttlecock veiled lady's arm and shook her while shouting and asking her helplessly to get out of the way while she stood unshaken by any of this, putting both her arms about the door blocking the way for the rest of the people and me. 

And then the time was up! The driver closed the door...

Immediately, I veered my efforts toward the driver, pleading as louder as my throat allowed me to reopen the door. Gladly, he wasn't a deaf one, and so he let the door open one more time just for me to get out. I tried all the tactics, begging the woman to move aside, but she didn't move an inch. She was standing in front of the door like a mountain, untempered and undaunted by anything. Now that I look back and recall that woman, I'm sure that she wouldn't have left the way even if punched or actually shot by a gun.

So, guess what?

The woman didn't move, and the door closed again. This time the driver, too, looked deprived of all the hopes of the woman stepping aside and leaving the way out of the bus.

And the wheels of the bus started moving round and round, spinning a huge ball of anger in my mind, which I had to burst.....

So, I finally started speaking in her gibberish language, cursing her with all my might! And to my surprise, she heard that she turned and looked at me. It made my blood boil more; why couldn't she hear me before, WOMAN I EXISTED EARLIER, and the whole bus witnessed by helplessness when you weren't letting me out.

This time the whole bus moved in silence again, while I was the only person speaking and breathing fire on that Coke Ki bottle until the next stop. This time I had learned my lesson and stood by the door to avoid this terrible spanner in work. 

I now know what a "راستے کا پتھر" looks like... It comes covered in a shuttlecock, in the form of superstitions, and in the form of troubled relatives, but the Coke Ki botlain "Shuttlecock veiled women" Surpasses them all... 

I had learned my lesson that; although I didn't maintain social distancing during the dark times of Covid-19, I would definitely stay six feet away from these coke ki botlain (women in shuttlecock veil). So run as far from them as you can when you see one.

I had learned my lesson that a shuttlecock head means trouble...

I had learned my lesson to sit closer to the door and rush out of the bus as soon as I could before a shuttlecock head blocks it for me.

I had learned mine; it's high time now that you learn to stay away from these extremely dangerous "Spanners in Work."