324 sq.kms is India's population density. I wonder how much it would be inside an MTC bus at 8 a.m? The window seat in front of the condutor's has been my favourite haunt for years. Maybe because it is the highest seat in the entire bus or the ease of getting a Rs.4 ticket. Whatever the reason, everyday I am lured to that particular seat and everyday I am partially deaf from his screeching whistle.
So it happens, the daily routine of standing near three 29Cs neatly lined up in Besant Nagar's Bus Terminus. Few school children, many office goers and unemployed me. We look around nervously at any sign of movement. Our eyes shift from the tea stall where the staff are taking a break to the buses themselves. A false alarm! One of the drivers is always changing a sign board: Normal to Express (Rs.6). Momentary panic among the crowd, few venture towards him to ask if the bus plans to leave anytime soon, his nonchalance says it all. So we are all back at our assigned spots. Waiting and watching....
My day is directly influenced by whether or not I get my favourite seat. The days when I spend an extra two minutes eating my toast cost me dearly. I am either left standing or I get the dreaded aisle seat. The latter is worse. In a country with more than a billion people, I can only imagine how precious space is, so if at all you find yourself bending your neck to fetch something from your bag, forget about a straight neck. For the rest of the journey, you are caught in an uncomfortable forward pose with someone's elbow, forearm, hand or bag where your neck is supposed to be.
What fascinates me most are the members of the 'Anti-B*& Strap Prudish Society' (to be PC). This seems to be every other woman traveller on the bus who has taken it upon herself to save her fellow sister from an unruly b*& strap that might just be peeping out of your kurta, t-shirt or blouse. The routine goes something like this: your attention is caught by someone touching your arm, they then take their index finger and tap their right/left shoulder depending on which side the danger is. The appropriate behaviour from your part will be a look of complete horror as you shy away and pull your apparel closer to your body. Or if you are like me- you laugh out loud!
I have tried on occasions to read the newspaper, to hold as many bags as humanely possible (of other people's) and to avoid getting completely deaf. I have also tried to keep my calm when people use me as a table or while dealing with eve teasers. But at the end of the day, I love the empty bus which drops me off outside Besant Nagar's community centre. Worth the Rs.8 roundtrip :)
My day is directly influenced by whether or not I get my favourite seat. The days when I spend an extra two minutes eating my toast cost me dearly. I am either left standing or I get the dreaded aisle seat. The latter is worse. In a country with more than a billion people, I can only imagine how precious space is, so if at all you find yourself bending your neck to fetch something from your bag, forget about a straight neck. For the rest of the journey, you are caught in an uncomfortable forward pose with someone's elbow, forearm, hand or bag where your neck is supposed to be.
What fascinates me most are the members of the 'Anti-B*& Strap Prudish Society' (to be PC). This seems to be every other woman traveller on the bus who has taken it upon herself to save her fellow sister from an unruly b*& strap that might just be peeping out of your kurta, t-shirt or blouse. The routine goes something like this: your attention is caught by someone touching your arm, they then take their index finger and tap their right/left shoulder depending on which side the danger is. The appropriate behaviour from your part will be a look of complete horror as you shy away and pull your apparel closer to your body. Or if you are like me- you laugh out loud!
I have tried on occasions to read the newspaper, to hold as many bags as humanely possible (of other people's) and to avoid getting completely deaf. I have also tried to keep my calm when people use me as a table or while dealing with eve teasers. But at the end of the day, I love the empty bus which drops me off outside Besant Nagar's community centre. Worth the Rs.8 roundtrip :)
Very Eloquent - could actually visualise the B.Nagar bus stop and the packed bus...
ReplyDeletei really wonder how you read. i found it really hard to hold the book in one place.. :-S music seems to be the best way to kill time on a bus.
ReplyDelete