Valliammai is an 8-year-old girl living in a village who develops a strong desire to ride the bus after watching it pass through her street each hour. She carefully plans a secret trip on the bus one afternoon to visit the nearby town. On her first journey, she is fascinated by the sights outside and enjoys interacting with the conductor, though she is bothered by an elderly woman passenger. While she is excited to see the town, she is too afraid to get off the bus alone. The return trip is more somber after seeing a dead cow by the roadside.

1. MADAM
RIDES THE
BUS
Vallikkannan

2. What comes to your mind when you look at these
images?

5. Valliammai
● Eight years old
● Very curious
● No playmates of her own age
● Favourite pastime - Standing in the front doorway of her house
● Watching the street

6. Most fascinating thing
The bus that travelled between her village and the nearest town.
● Passed through her street each hour
● Every time a new set of passengers
● Source of unending joy.
Valli wanted to ride on that bus.
The wish became an overwhelming desire.

7. Valli would stare wistfully at the people who got on or off
the bus when it stopped at the street corner.

9. If any of Valli’s friends rides the bus and describes the
sights of the town, she would be too jealous.
.
Proud!
Proud!
The town is
amazing!

10. Valli listened to the conversations and picked up the details about
the bus journey
The town was six miles from her village.
●
The fare was thirty paise one way.
The trip to the town took forty five minutes.

11. Calculation and Planning
Valli thought about her bus journey.
She calculated and recalculated, planned and replanned .
She could take bus at 1 0’ clock afternoon.
She could be back by 2:45

12. One spring afternoon
When the bus was just on the
point of leaving the village,
a tiny hand was raised commandingly.
Stop the
bus! Stop
the bus!

13. It’s me! I am the one who has to
get on.
I simply have to go to the town.
The conductor asked her to get
on the bus and stretched his
hand to help her up but she
refused saying she could get on
by herself and that he did not
have to help her.

14. The conductor was fond of joking.
.
Please don’t be angry with me, my fine
madam. Here, have a seat right up
there in front. Everybody move aside
please - make way for madam.

15. Slack time - A time when there is not
much work
It was the slack time of the day and there
were only six or seven passengers on the
bus.

16. ● Everyone laughed with the conductor.
● Valli felt shy.
● She walked quickly to an empty seat and sat down.
● The conductor blew his whistle twice and the bus moved forward.
● Valli observed that it was a new bus.
● It was painted white with some green strips along the sides.
● The seats were soft and luxurious.

17. Valli devoured
everything with her
eyes.
● The canal
● Palm trees
● Grasslands
● Distant mountains
● Blue sky

20. While she was standing to watch outside
● An elderly man who was concerned asked Valli to sit.
● She was annoyed and told him that she was not a child.
● The conductor again joked and called her “very grown up madam”.
● She was angry at the conductor.

21. ● The conductor handed the ticket to Valli.
● He told her to sit as she had given the fare so she should be
comfortable.
● Valli insisted that she wanted to stand.
● The conductor told her that she might fall when the bus makes a
sharp turn or hits a bump.
● The bus stopped.
● A new set of passengers got on.
● Valli was afraid to lose her seat so she finally sat down.
● An elderly woman sat beside her.

22. The elderly woman
● had big holes in her ear lobes
● had ugly ear rings in them
● was chewing betel nut
● asked Valli if she was travelling alone
● went on with her ‘nonsense’
She asked Valli if it was proper for a young girl like her
to travel alone.
She further asked where exactly was she she
going in the town.

23. Valli’s first journey
She made careful, painstaking and elaborate plans.
She resisted the temptation to buy peppermints, toys and balloons.
The most difficult was when she suppressed the desire to ride the merry go round
in the village fair.

24. ● Everyday her mother used to nap after the lunch.
● She decided to go during that time without her mother’s knowledge.
● Her bus trip would be her first excursion outside the village.
● Valli started enjoying her journey observing the things she could look at.
● The bus passed smoothly leaving behind all the obstacles.
● She felt the trees coming running towards her but then they stopped once the
bus reached them.
● She clapped her hands in glee.

25. The Cow
● A young cow was running very fast in the middle of the road, right in front of
the bus. The driver sounded his horn again and again.
● This was very funny to Valli. She laughed until there were tears in her eyes.
● At last the cow moved off the road.

26. The Train
Valli saw a speck of a train growing bigger and bigger.
The train crossed making roars and shaking the bus.

27. The bus then travelled across a wide
thoroughfare
.

28. The town
● Seeing such huge crowds and glittering displays Valli was struck dumb with
wonder.
● She gaped at everything.
● The bus stopped.
● Everyone got off except Valli.
● The conductor asked why she was not getting off.
● She told that she just wanted to have a bus ride.
● She admitted that she would be afraid to get out and
move alone.
● The conductor offered her a cold drink but she refused.
● They waited until it was time for the return journey.

29. The Return Journey
● Valli greeted everything with the same excitement as the first time.
● Suddenly, she saw a young cow dead by the roadside.
● Valli asked the conductor if it was the same cow that ran in front of the bus.
● The conductor nodded and Valli was overcome with sadness.
● She no longer wanted to look out the window.

30. ● She sat glued to her seat until the bus reached the village.
● While leaving the bus, she waved goodbye to the conductor.
● She went running for her home.
● Her mother and aunt were busy in some conversation.

31. Yes, you are right. So many things in
our midst and in the world outside. How
can we possibly know about everything?
And even if we do know about
something, we often can’t understand it
completely, can we? Oh, yes!

33. THANK YOU
NOOPUR SHARMA
TGT ENGLISH