Part 1 - The Flashback

Sourabha Rajyam – year 8872.

Sri Latha was running late. She had to get the 7.20 am bus to Amaravathi University if she hoped to reach her history class in time. She was doing her thesis on ‘Ancient World History – The disparity of Gender through the ages’. Her guide Professor Kalyani was an expert herself on Ancient Human History and was helping her through her research through valuable suggestions regarding the required material and also in getting that material. It was the day of the convocation and Sri Latha would be receiving her Doctorate from the hands of the great monarch Emperor Ugra Vasantha Raya. It was one day she couldn’t afford to be late. She cursed herself for sleeping late that had resulted in her getting up late and then rushing through everything in a desperate bid to out run time itself.

“Shit, Shit, shit!” she started an long tirade of the choicest curses at the 7.20 bus that she had missed by a whisker. Now she had to resort to outrageous means to reach the university. She saw a share-taxi slow down and stop. She knew it was a bit risky but she was not in a position to bicker.

“Amaravathi University?”

“I go till the Bus Terminus Ma’am.”

“Ok.” She got in and sat between two males which was the only space available. One of the males could have adjusted so she could have sat beside the window but chivalry was such a rare quality. She had to be patient till she reached the Bus Terminus and from there she could get a bus that would drop her in 20 minutes time at her destination. She felt a hand brush against her right breast whenever the taxi driver applied brakes. She could never understand the need to apply brakes on a perfectly smooth road that had very light traffic. After the government had come up with sky-ways, road traffic had been reduced to a large extent. Only taxis and public transport buses used the roads while sky shuttles catered to the very urgent services and long distance travel. Sky stations littered the skyways all over the planet connecting different parts of the world. The whole planet was now one empire under the rule of Emperor Ugra Vasantha Raya.

Long distance travel had become very short. You could now decide how long you wanted to travel and could opt for the appropriate service. The Slow Service took the longest time and was used by those who couldn’t afford to shell out a fortune for travel. It was also the cheapest, had the largest number of stops and was the preferred choice of the masses. The express service was used by the Salaried employees for their work related travels. It was faster than the Slow service but still took a long time. It was neither too costly nor cheap and could only be afforded by those who could get back what they spent in the form of travel allowances and Dearness Allowances.The Fast Service was preferred by the rich as it got them quickly over large distances at an affordable cost. It was comfortable and not too tiring either. They did not have to spend too much time on jet lag. Another advantage was the Service provided by special wait staff who provided everything that the travellers required during the journey. The elite used the Super Fast Service that was priced atrociously high. This was preferred by the insanely rich and influential persons in the society. It was also a way of showing off their wealth. Each passenger had a personal attendant who would cater to their needs. The Uniformed Services Special was used by all the Uniformed Services – the army, navy, air force, space rangers, inter-planetary services, the diplomats, the police, paramilitary, doc-tors, engineers, architects, white collar employees etc. The Educational Services Special catered to the teachers, students and other staff working in schools, colleges and universities. The passengers were issued special identity cards that were scanned before they entered the Sky-Shuttle. This was used for intra world transfers.

The Royal Service was used exclusively by the Royal Families and had the highest security. Commoners were not allowed without permission. Any unidentified person attempting to approach the royal Service were arrested and taken for interrogation. For very short travel, taxi and cab services along with Public transport buses were the only option. These were limited services and one had to be very punctual to catch one. It was usual for some of these services to run empty as they were bound to follow their time schedules rather than the passengers who used them.

Another hand rested on her thigh making her look at the offender angrily but the man was looking elsewhere as if it was normal for a man to place his hand on the thigh of an unknown female passenger in a shared taxi. Sri Latha ground her teeth in frustration as there was nothing she could do. Laws prohibited women from complaining about groping in crowded places; it was a law that the men took advantage of. She tried to ignore the feeling of insects crawling over her body as the offending hands continued to roam on her body violating her. It was the longest ten minutes of her life as the 20 year old woman waited for the Bus Terminus to appear. She nearly jumped out before the taxi halted completely prompting the driver to shower a string of curses at her. He was more concerned that she might run away without paying. He almost snatched the fare and drove away.

“There goes my change!” she muttered as she walked towards the entrance of the Duvvuri Subbamma Bus Terminus. She almost ran to platform 87 and jumped into the bus that was just backing out of the platform. She was out of breath as she sat in the nearest seat.

“Amaravathi University.” She gasped to the conductor who deftly punched her a ticket.

“Going for the convocation?” he asked.

“Yes. I need to be there by 8.20 am.”

“Don’t worry. We will drop you there by 8. So, what are you studying?”

“I am getting my Doctorate in Ancient History today!”

“Wow! Congratulations!”

“Thanks a lot!” she blushed with pleasure.

“Your parents must be really proud!”

“Yes, they are.”

“Then why are you alone?”

“They had an emergency appointment they could not reschedule.”

“Oh. All the best.”

“Thanks.”

The conductor moved onto other passengers and she thought of her parents.

“Srilu! Where are yooooo????” Srilatha chuckled in amusement as she hid under the bed. ‘What fun!’ she thought. “They can’t catch meeeee!”

“Yes, we can’t catch you, you little imp! Now do come out from under the bed, okay???”

“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!! Noooooottttttttt Faaaaaiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrr!!!!” Srilatha whined as she came out. “You should not catch me soooooo sooooooonnnnnnn!” she pouted prompting Mamatha to kiss her five year old daughter.

“Time for breakfast, munchkin.” Mamatha led the girl towards the bathroom. “Are we eating breakfast in the bathroom???!!!!” the little one laughed as she fell in step with her mother.

“No. But we are giving you a bath first!!”

“Okayyyyyy!”

“No playing with water and wasting it!”

“Mom! That water is asking to be splashed!” Srilatha spoke in a hushed voice as if she was telling a secret. “If I don’t splash water like that god will be angrryyyy!!” she said making her eyes wide open. Mamatha was finding it too hard to keep a straight face. “Which god told you that?”

“Goooodddddd!!” as if that explained everything. Mamatha burst out laughing and gently pushed the kid inside the bathroom. “Ten minutes! Or you miss your favourite breakfast!” She shook her head as she could hear the kid splashing water once her back was turned. "This kid will be the death of me!" she thought as she proceeded to prepare upma-masala-Dosa, an unusual combiabtion dosa that Srilatha loved to eat.

*******

Srilatha woke from her reverie with a jerk as the bus stopped and the conductor was shouting, “Amaravathi University! Amaravathi University!” she alighted from the bus and looked at her watch. 8 am. “Good.” She thought. “Just as he promised. Now I can go leisurely.” She looked at the vast, ornate, majestic, intricately sculpted entrance of Amaravathi University, one of the most prestigious universities of the empire.

The University was spread over a thousand acres and catered to almost everything under the sun. Each department had its own entrance and was easy to walk into from the entrance. But one needed a private vehicle if one wanted to tour the entire campus. There were so many departments that it was easy to get lost despite the well laid roads and the sign posts directing visitors to the department concerned.

Each Department had its own convocation hall but the common convocation hall was used when VVIP’s arrived for the ceremony. She had to first report to her department head and get changed into the convocation dress which was a cream coloured saree with matching blouse and a pagdi – a head dress made of silk. For men it was a cream coloured dhothi, a cream coloured, full sleeved shirt, an uttareeyam – a silk cloth that was draped over the shoulders and could be used in every possible way, though it was usually used to wipe hands or sweat – and a pagdi.

“You are late Srilatha!” her professor greeted her as usual. She smiled as she said, “It is a very special day Acharya!”

“All the more reason to be early.” He handed her a packet. “Now get changed quickly. You have to report to the venue in ten minutes.”

“Siiiirrrrrrr! How can I change in ten minutes Siiiirrrrrrr???!!!!” she sang out the question prompting the 67 year old professor to give a rap on her head. “You imps never improve!!! Now get going!!” she chuckled at his mock anger and hurried to get into the convocation dress.

The Doctor Yarlagadda Subba Rao Memorial Convocation Hall or the DYSRM Convocation Hall had been named after one of Ancient Bharat’s genius scientists. He had discovered many vaccines that had helped the nation eradicate many deadly diseases and improve health services.

It was a vast hall that could accommodate 1,00,000 (hundred thousand) students at a time. The elegantly decorated banner formed the backdrop of the stage proudly proclaiming, “8765th Annual Convocation – 20th September 8872”. A podium decorated with flowers stood to the right of the stage. The rest of the stage was kept empty as per the custom.

The hall was already packed and almost all seats were already taken. Srilatha manouevered through the rows of seats and sat in her designated place. There was a nervous excitement all around the hall as everyone from the various departments of Arts and Humanities were present for the convocation.

As she waited for the ceremony to start, Srilatha’s mind revisited her childhood days.

The rings of flashback start.....

Raju honked the horn loudly indicating the arrival of the school bus he was driving at Ramulavari Street, Old Guntur. The yellow coloured bus picked up the students of Sri Vivekananda Public School, Old Club Road, Guntur. It was a 62 year old school catering to students of classes 1-12(1-12 grades).

“Sriluuuuuuu!!!!1 The bus is here!!! Hurry up!!”

“Coming mom!!” Srilatha ran with her 6 year old legs as fast as she could to reach the bus. Unlike kids of her age, she didn’t throw tantrums to go to school. In fact she loved school so much that she would always run to her school bus.

Raju smiled as he saw how enthusiastic Srilatha was. She reminded him of his own grand daughter who was studying in another city. He rarely got to visit her but whenever he did, it would be the best time of his life.

The bus attendant carefully helped the five year old to board the bus and shut the door. The youngest kids were always placed in the middle of the bus while the oldest kids were seated in the front and the back. The teachers usually sat in the front part of the bus beside the windscreen and in the last seat. Some of them sat in the middle as well and so would ensure the total safety of the kids in case of an emergency.

Srilatha looked around and couldn’t find any teacher in the bus. “Where are the teachers, brother?” she asked a fifth class(grade) boy.

“They left early today, little sister! They have some meeting or something.”

“Yaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy!! The bus is ours! The bus is ours!!!!” she started jumping up and down and tried to run around in the bus. The older girls caught her and made her sit with them.

“Akka (elder sister), pleeeeeessseeeeee! Let me run!!!!!” she asked holding the elder kid’s chin with a puppy dog expression.

The older girl almost gave in to the cute expression and instead gave the little girl a kiss on her cheek. “You little monkey! You will fall if you run in a moving bus!”

“But, teachers are not there no!!”

“But, we are there! You need to listen to us!”

“Tooooooooooooooooooooooo boooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg!!!!” Srilatha pouted in disappointment. The elder girl smiled mischievously. “Tell you what. We shall have a game of antyakshari!” the little girl’s face lit up. She loved singing. In fact the older kids had gathered all the kids in the middle of the bus.

“I will start! I will start!” Srilatha was literally shouting in excitement. Before anyone could stop her she started singing her favourite song. “ Gunna mamidi komma meeda goollu rendunnaayee.....!!” it was a famous song in the 1980’s in ancient Bharat’s Andhra Pradesh State.

No one stopped her as she sang like a nightingale. She was a born singer and could mesmerise anyone with her cute, melodious voice. People just forgot their surroundings when she sang and would just listen to her.

“Don’t know how many evil eyes were on you today!” her mother would always ward off the evil eye every evening by moving a broomstick or a palm full of salt round the girl’s head three times clockwise and three times anti-clockwise. She didn’t know why she did it in the 80th century but she did it simply because her own mother and her mother and her mother and so on had been doing it for ages.

“It’s tradition!” she would say when anyone asked her. “It’s been in the family for ages. And it IS EFFECTIVE!” she would then glare at the person so fiercely that they would have to give up. She was as fierce as a tigress when it came to protecting her kids.

Raju kept his focus on the road ahead while listening to Srilatha’s song. She had chosen a wonderful, classical, song that was tragic in nature but would help the listeners understand the purity of friendship.

“Koyilemo nallanidi, chilakemo chakkanidi........” the song beautifully brought forth the discriminations shown by the elders on the basis of colour, caste, creed, religion, gender and economic and social status and how it affected the children.

The child had not yet started formal training in music and she was already a sensation in the school. Teachers and students alike would listen with rapt attention whenever she sang. The songs she sang always contained a message and were inspirational.

As the song drew to a close, Raju pulled the bus into the arrival area earmarked for the bus. He watched the children de-board the bus and walk to their classes enthusiastically, chirping like young birds. It was so nice to be a kid! He shook his head and took the bus into the parking lot. His job was done for the day. He would be needed only in the evening unless the boss had some task for him.