Savings still rule!

I was waiting for a city bus to the Central railway station at a stop near my home; had to get back to work at Hyderabad. An air-conditioned bus arrived with no one in it; and my mom looked sceptically at it. I was already goading her to get on board. Naturally, she being in charge of our home's finances, enquired cautiously -

"How much to Central?"
"Rs. 28". Naturally, she hesitated. After all, though the price isn't much, it's still around 6 times the 'regular' price. I had to persuade her in quickly, and predictably, we had the bus to ourselves. All along our journey which lasted for around half an hour, not more than ten people were in the bus (with a 30-plus seating capacity) at any point of time. The conductor opined that this air-conditioning was 'not suited' for this 'route'. True, this service would fare much better at OMR or elsewhere, areas flooded with IT folks who don't mind spending a bit more.

With Chennai still being a whole lot circumspect as regards spending, it is only natural that these services wouldn't work within the core city area just as yet. It's heartening to see that people still spend their money wisely; I cannot forget a scene where a school girl smiled furtively when she heard the 'exhorbitant' price on enquiry - reminds me of my school days when I didn't have much on me either :) .