Gopi hurried inside the crowded Sonapur-bound bus, and looked around in vain for an empty seat. There was none. Have to stand all my way to Sonapur, he thought, unless anyone got down, which rarely happened as all people usually headed to Sonapur, a small village on the outskirts of Guwahati. The journey was forty-five minutes long. He glanced at his wrist watch: 9.00 AM. The bus was about to leave. Some more last-minute passengers bounded in, others shouted for departure, few elders banged the windows; the bleary-eyed conductor blew his whistle, the engine growled to life and, with a