A woman threatened to inject us with HIV-infected blood in a microbus”
Dr Susmita Rai, UK
It happened around four years ago when I was working as a medical intern in Bir Hospital. I was returning home after completing my shift. I remember it was around 5 PM and it was still light outside. So I got into a microbus and soon a woman also got in along with other passengers. She had short hair and looked like she was in her thirties. She sat down in that seat right behind the driver, facing us. Then she started asking us to give her money but no one paid her any attention.
So, she told us that she had AIDS and she would inject us all with her blood if we didn’t give her money. That got everyone’s attention and we hurriedly gave her whatever we had. I remember I wasn’t carrying much money; I had only Rs 5 to spare and because I thought I had to pay the bus fare anyway, I asked her (feeling very scared) if she would take that. She agreed so I gave it to her. Everyone was scared at the threat but we didn’t see any needle.
Tales of Tilaurakot
The micro hadn’t moved and the conductor was busy calling out for more passengers. After getting what she could from us, she got out of the vehicle. I wanted to know whether she got into another micro but I didn’t look. Looking back, I think she was probably faking it because with a threat like that she could have asked for a huge amount if it was really true. But I felt really scared then and I couldn’t even think straight.
“I enthusiastically patted on a stranger’s knee mistaking her for a friend”
Evelyn Moktan, Operations Manager, FOCUSONE Nepal
This happened to me in 2009. As I was entering a tempo to go back home from my office in New Baneshwar, I thought that the girl sitting near the exit was a college friend of mine.
Her side profile and hair looked exactly like my friend’s. Excited of seeing her after so long, I patted on her knee and enthusiastically called out “Oie Naari, k chha?” as I entered the vehicle. Even before completing my sentence, I realized that she was not my friend. I was so embarrassed, I didn’t have the guts to look towards her after I took my seat. The other passengers in the tempo looked utterly confused, too. I could only relax when, thankfully, she got off in Baber Mahal.
“I cried when the conductor was rude to my mom”
Venisha Acharya, St Xavier’s College
This happened a long time back when I was traveling with my mother as a child. My mother didn’t want to pay my fare as I was really young, and the conductor started arguing with her. He was really rude and loud and that scared me. So I started crying. I told my mother to stop arguing and pay my fare from the money she had put aside to buy me chocolates. I even promised my mother that I’ll never ever eat chocolates. The conductor saw me crying and stopped asking for money.
“A stranger had to pay my fare as I’d forgotten to carry my wallet”
Ashna Acharya, Adarsha Vidya Mandir Higher Secondary School
I took a bus from Saatdobato to Chabahil. When the bus reached Gaushala, the conductor started collecting fares. I fished my pocket, but it was empty. Since my destination was just a stop away, the conductor started pestering me. I nervously searched for my wallet in my bag but I couldn’t find it either. To my horror, I realized that everyone in the bus was staring at me. Before I could say anything on my defense, a man beside me volunteered to pay my fare and asked me not to worry. I thanked him, but it was such an awkward situation that I just wanted to get off the bus.
I took a long breath of relief as soon as I stepped out of the bus at my stop. And as I opened my bag to keep my mobile, I saw that my wallet full of money was right there. I really felt stupid then. I still break into laughter whenever I remember this incident.
