Chapter 7: Madam Rides the Bus The Tale of Custard the Dragon

Valli’s favourite pastime was standing in the front doorway of her house and watching what was happening in the street outside.

The sight of the bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town, filled with a new set of passengers each time it passed through the street near her house was a source of unending joy for Valli. Her strongest desire was to take a ride on the bus someday.

Valli found out that the bus journey to the town from her village was six miles and took approximately forty-five minutes. The fare for a one-way journey cost 30 paise. She listened to the conversations carefully between her neighbours and the people who regularly took the bus trip and asked a few questions to gain some information and small details about the bus journey.

Valli was planning to travel on the bus and go to the town and return home on the same bus. She heard the onward journey fare was thirty paise that took approximately forty-five minutes to reach the town. In this way, she planned to stay in her seat and pay another thirty paise for the return trip. This meant that she could take the one o’clock afternoon bus, reach the town at 1.45 p.m. and return home by 2.45 p.m.