You must sit on your bum

Wednesday morning, Revathi was waiting in the bus stop in her neatly pressed cotton saree, handbag on her shoulder, lunch bag in one hand and umbrella in another. She looked at her watch on her right hand and gave an exasperated sigh. Bus was late again. Just when she was about to sit, she saw the bus slowly making its way towards the deserted bus stop. Folding the umbrella, she got on the bus. She was tired already and was looking at a long day at work. She flashed her bus pass at the conductor, found an empty seat and sat there. She kept her belongings on her lap and looked outside the window. She squirmed in her seat as her back pain was acting up again. She travelled at least an hour to work, one way, everyday.

Another lady got on the bus in the following bus stop and sat next to her. She was a foreigner, a white lady. She seemed British from her accent when she spoke to the conductor. Revathi turned back to the window and adjusted in her seat again. 

The bus kept moving, bumping on speed bumps, picking and dropping people along the way. And the momentum made Revathi slid through her leather seat. Every time, she kept sighing in pain and adjusted herself on the seat to ease it.

The foreigner asked, "Are you alright? Should I move?"

Revathi replied with a sheepish embarrassment, "No, it's just my back." Revathi was an introvert, a woman of few words. Striking up a conversation with a stranger was awkward let alone a personal one. 

The lady said, "Oh I see!"

Revathi was uncomfortable not sure if it was her back pain or an observing stranger that made her feel so. She slid through the seat again and sat on the edge of it with her head resting at the back and her back arching in between.

The lady said, "You are sitting wrong. That's why you are in pain."

Revathi smiled awkwardly, turned away to avoid further discussion on the topic,

The lady smiled and said with an accent, "You must sit on your bum you know!"

At the utterance of the word 'bum' in a public place without whispering, Revathi looked at her, eyes-widened, shocked and amused at the same time! She turned to check if anyone heard the lady. She thanked the lady politely, sat up straight and looked outside the window again.