When the sparks flew...

It was a Sunday evening. I had to go to the market to buy some things, which takes about 10 minutes to reach by road from my house. General laziness meant that I was not going to walk all the way, add to that my environmental concerns and the only possible mode of transport left (other than a flying carpet) was the public bus.

So I took the bus to the market, the fact that I had to spend 20 minutes at the bus stop doing a whole lot of nothing was offset by the happy realization that I was not polluting the environment (or at least sharing my carbon footprint with 50 other people), so that was good. Anyways, I reached the market, bought what I needed and before long, it was time to head back. So I went and stood in line, waiting for the bus to arrive.

It takes top notch engineering, sheer determination and God's ample blessings to keep the Thane municipal buses running despite the despicable condition they are in. But seeing as to how it was a Sunday, the first two were in short supply so the buses were more delayed than usual. Now this particular bus stop which I was at lies on a very busy arterial road that takes traffic away from Thane's railway station into the city, consequently, it is full of vehicles at all times of the day. Also, the road curves in what car racing enthusiasts would recognize as a chicane right in front of the bus stop. It is a very small one but it is there. As I was making these observations to myself, a speeding auto rickshaw crossed the chicane leaving in its wake...a trail of sparks.

Red..hot..smoking..beautiful. They rolled carefree on the surface of the road for a few seconds before oxidizing away into oblivion. But they had definitely caught my attention. I looked up to see if anyone else had noticed them, but people around me were busy fidgeting with their cell phones or looking bored. Nobody seemed to care. And then they were there again! A speeding SUV was their parent this time. Wonderful! I thought to myself...realizing that the size of the vehicle was not a factor in the production of these mini pyrotechnics. A few more vehicles of all shapes and sizes passed by after the SUV, but there were no fireworks to be seen.

What could be common to a puny auto rickshaw and a 1500 kg SUV? Could it be that the road surface was not perfectly level causing the undersides of vehicles to graze against it. When traveling at a decent speed, the friction was sure to lead to sparks. Yes, that had to be it. But just then I saw another rickshaw which was traveling at a slower speed go over the chicane and yet again there were sparks. Now I was really intrigued. Obviously the size of the vehicle was not a factor and now speed had been eliminated too. What was left?

Faults in the vehicles themselves? Possible, but highly improbable given the close to mint condition of the SUV. Sudden braking causing the brake drums to heat up? Okay, but there were no screeching sounds. Broken exhaust pipes? But they were too quiet for that. Nothing seemed to fit. Just then I remembered that the SUV was the third vehicle to pass the chicane after the first rickshaw and the other rickshaw was the seventh vehicle to pass after the SUV. Could this seemingly random production of sparks be following a mathematical series? Three dots in an infinite space can never help, but I hopefully kept observing every vehicle that passed the spot...but there were no sparks. Looked like the glow-show was over.

My bus arrived just then and I was shoved inside. But the question kept burning inside my head...but why? but why only those three automobiles? but why not the others? but this but that but but butt. I reckoned my head would start smoking anytime. And then it hit me...

Burning...butt...smoking...of course! The seemingly random, unexplained sparks were nothing but cigarette butts! The people in those three automobiles had to have been smoking, probably they had finished the fag and were throwing it away after the last puff...at that time it is still alight and if thrown on the ground, a few loose, burning pieces of paper and tobacco could give rise to the sparks I saw. Everything fit so beautifully! It was one of those times when I felt wise and naive at the same time. So much for my scientific pursuits though...they would have to wait for another time to spark forth :)