Madam Rides the Bus: Summary and Analysis: 2022

Madam Rides The Bus is a story by Vallikannan. It is a sensitive story about an eight-year-old girl who has an adventurous bus ride into the city outside the village. This ride presents some unfortunate incidents that teach her important life lessons about death and life and changes her life.

Madam Rides the Bus Summary

Madam Rides the Bus is a sensitive story about an eight-year-old Tamil girl, Valliammai. She had the curiosity to discover the world beyond her village. She did not have friends to play with and kept watching people in the street. This was her favorite way to pass the time. She was mesmerized by the bus rides. There was a bus between her village and the closest city. She started to collect information about the timings of the bus from her neighbors. The bus went to the town near her village, which was about six miles from her village, and the fare was thirty paise one way. So, Valli started to save money.

Her plan was to travel during the afternoon while her mother was having her nap. Valli stood on the roadside as she waited for the bus. As the bus came, she said that she wants to go to town. The conductor was a fun person and called her Madam and showed her her seat. The bus was new. It was green and had white stripes. The bus was comfortable and luxurious. She watched the mountains, green fields, and palm trees. This was the first time she was experiencing all of this. On her way to the town, she saw a caw that walked in front of the bus while crossing the road. The driver blew the whistles, and the cow crossed the road. This fascinated Valli. She thought of this as her dream come true.

She was observing everything, but she was focused on the landscape outside. After a while, the bus reached the destination, and the passengers got down. The conductor requested her to get down, and she told him that she only wanted to be there for the ride. This made the conductor smile. Vallia stayed on the bus, and she took a return ticket. On her way back, she saw the same cow. He was dead, and his crushed body was on the roadside. This caused her heart to cry. She was sad and was trying to understand the meaning of life and death. She came home and never shared a word about her journey with her family.

The story talks about the young girls’ courage to fulfill her desire and the way she was so organized and responsible for it. It talks about how a little girl understood the meaning of life and death because of an incident.

Madam Rides the Bus Analysis

It is a sensitive story about an eight-year-old girl named Valliammai. The story describes her first bus journey outside her village. The girl, Valli, tried to contemplate the mystery of life and death at a very tender age. The world outside the village charms Valli because it is both fascinating and mysterious. She was longing to experience it by herself. What the people around her said only added fuel to the fire. 

Valli decided to go to the town alone and without anyone’s help. She asked the conductor to take her to the town. She paid the fare herself and wanted to experience and devour everything with her eyes. She witnessed the canal, palm tree, extensive grassland, and the blue sky. She saw the green fields as far as she could see.

She got delighted when she saw a cow running with her tail raised on the road ahead of the bus. As she was returning, she saw that the same cow was crushed and was bleeding. She was moved from within and was understanding the meaning of life and death on her own terms. She came home on time, and no one knew of her adventurous journey.

Madam Rides the Bus Theme

The story shows how curious children are and how easily they are fascinated by new things. The story explores the curiosity of children and how it does not end without them experiencing the delights of fantasy life. The eight-year-old girl manages to responsibly make a trip to and back from the town just because of her enthusiasm about bus rides. The author tries to show us the world the way a child sees it.

Madam Rides the Bus Character Sketch

Valli was an eight-year-old girl. She was very mature for her age. She enjoyed standing in front of the doorway and watching what was happening, and it became her favorite pass time. She was clearly a great planner and managed to save enough money for the bus journey and plan it so well. She was full of enthusiasm and excitement. She loved the landscape, the canal, palm trees, the mountains, and the green fields that stretched far away. She had strong reactions to being called ‘child’ or ‘madam.’. She did not accept free drinks offered by the bus conductor because of self-respect. She planned the bus journey in a way that she would come back before her mother woke up from the afternoon nap. Her mother never found out about the adventurous bus journey she took.

Madam Rides the Bus Analysis Key Points

This story is about a brave eight-year-old girl who really wanted to experience something and had the courage to fulfill it. She enjoyed staring at the hustle and bustle of the street and loved the sight of buses leaving and coming. So, a sincere desire to travel by bus developed. She needed information about the bus journey, fare and then made it to make sure she is back home before her mother woke up from her nap. She did it all, and planned it well. The story discussed how the child managed to innocently but responsibly fulfill her desire and experience the ride. The experience also makes her realize the reality of death.