The luxury of travelling in an own vehicle
was dragged away from my hands when my office shifted to RR Towers at Guindy
Estate Area from GR complex at Nandhanam on January 6th 2014.
So
leaving my Scooty Pep Babylicious all alone in a corner of my street, I took
the next option of travelling by public transport.
For the past few days, my life has been centred on the 45B bus. Given that I've to travel to the Industrial Estate
area from the heart of the city, boarding the bus from my place seemed to be
the most viable option. This is the only bus that took to the Industrial Estate
from Triplicane.
Travelling in a bus, that too in Chennai,
is a poles apart experience. I am not sure about the other bus routes that run
in the city, my knowledge is limited a very few buses .The people, the attitude
of the driver, the frame of mind of the conductor, the endless noise that is
always heard, everything is a fresh experience. Even the simplest matter will
make the conductor go mad in the early hours of the day. For instance the
conductor would sulk if you do not tender the exact change.
One might look at the people travelling in the
buses and think of how unfortunate they are to travel so hard. Believe me
getting there is not as easy as it seems. You have to be talented 3 aspects to
be able to travel comfortably.
- To board the bus at the right time
- To be able to run with your bags
- To be talented to stand steady in a moving bus.
Let me elaborate.
If a
bus is scheduled to leave at 8.00 am, in a perfect world, the bus would arrive
at 8.15 am. Or in the other case it would arrive at 7:45 am. God only knows
where the buses are.
Let
us assume that the bus is approaching the bus stand. Here is the tricky part 2.
Some bus drivers stop the bus at the bus stop. But, some of them refuse to stop
the bus at the bus stop, making all of us (around 20, on any normal day) run with
our bags and lunch bags, unmindful of the traffic. All this is because people
prefer to sit and travel than to stand in a bus, which could turn out to be a
nightmare. But in a way, I'm grateful to these drivers, they help compensate
for the lack of any brisk activity throughout the day.
Here comes the tricky part 3. To be talented
to stand steady in a moving bus. The problem here is, though we do not have
enough space to stand, there is not enough support to hold on to. I guess the
minimum qualification to be able to drive a bus is that, the person should have
had experience in driving an auto, in Chennai. Now you get the idea of how a
bus driver would drive and how the passengers would have to hold on to all the
support they can find to avoid swaying in all directions. (Another workout of
sorts is my guess).
Most of the drivers are known to be
reckless when driving a bus, so much so that even the auto drivers stop to hurl
abuses. Just imagine, an auto driver reprimanding someone for reckless driving.
But on the brighter side, for all the Harry Potter fans there is something to
look forward to. We did not have the privilege of going to Hogwarts; at least
we have been given a chance of riding on the Knight Bus!
I’ve been travelling for a month now in
these buses and I make sure I board the 8 am bus. So there are a lot of
familiar faces and people do not hesitate to talk.
The traffic sometimes irritates you. Stuck
at a point for more than half an hour is irritating, but light music played on
your mobile will keep you engaged. Even if there is no one around, the music
played in the mobile would give you company. If that option is not available,
just close your eyes and beg for forgiveness from God for all the sins you have
committed.
The background score would be in sync :-)
On the whole, I am assured that my trip to
and from work is lively and entertaining.
What a way to start (and end) the day!
