(The following contents may be hard to believe but they are absolutely true)
OK so we were 6 of us on our way to Bangalore, 2 of whom would get down at Bangalore itself and the remaining 4 would meet our friend Arjith who was already in Bangalore and catch the train to Hyderabad from there. We expected the bus to reach at Majestic by 5:30 max but my luck seemed to have gone on a tour of its own, there was traffic jam at not one, not two but three different points. If you want to curse someone saying ‘Go to Bangalore traffic’ is as effective as saying ‘Go to hell’. We were worried if we would reach there on time but more worried was Arjith as we had the train tickets : - p. We thought of taking a cab to the next station but it would be Mission Impossible in Bangalore traffic. We had no time to get down at the depot and then go to the station, the driver understood our predicament and dropped us at a signal near the railway station. I got down and in mid traffic, pulled open the luggage compartment of the Volvo and pulled out bags and suitcases outside and dashed towards the station, the rest of the guys followed suit. There I was on the streets of Bangalore holding my suitcase and running like crazy, I was sure even if Usain Bolt competed with me that time he would have lost by miles :-p lol. I was swerving around people avoiding collision and climbing up the stairs to platform 2 as quickly as I could but to my dismay I saw the tail of the train snaking away from the platform. We were late by 2 min. I called up Arjith and gave him the PNR number of our ticket; he told the train had started 5 min late because the TT himself pulled the chain for some reason. Even then we missed it. It was like my luck was teasing me today. I caught my breath and then caught up with the other guys. We went to see if we could cancel the tickets, line was painfully long, thought we’l do it online.
I and Shubam immediately went to book the bus tickets before they were all booked because of the weekend rush. Luckily they were available and we booked 4 tickets to Hyderabad. Guess my luck wasn’t so bad after all or so I thought at that moment. The bus was to depart at 7:30, the agent told us that we just had to cross the road to get to the boarding point. It was 7pm then and one of the girls wanted to withdraw some money, said she’l be back in 5 min and left. We had something to drink in the meanwhile at the adjacent restaurant. Ordered some nice cool badam milk which was taking time for some reason (Again Mr.Luck was having a good time with me) and so was the girl who went to the ATM, asked Shubam to go check on her. It was finally 7:25 when they arrived, apparently a long queue at the ATM. Anyway we followed the guy who was supposed to take us to the stand which was supposed to be just a road cross away, he took us from the subway and as soon as I stepped in there was a power cut and it was pitch black, people were using their cell phones to navigate. We just followed the crowd and reached the other side of the road where the bus guy was waiting for us, we continued following him, we walked and walked, I hoped it was clear to them that we intended to reach Hyderabad on wheels and not on foot. I asked him to call and inform them that we are on our way and he did so. After dodging several buses on the way, jumping over barricades and road dividers we finally got to the boarding point. I thought the bus dint come yet as it was not there.
Imagine my shock when he said the bus just left 2 min back. Everybody had an incredulous look on their faces, I was in total D-I-S-B-E-L-I-E-F. First train and now bus!!! Unbelievable man!!! (Guess my stars were not in their right places today). I know buses that have waited for half n hour for passengers and these guys very well knew we were coming and they couldn’t wait for just 2 min?? They had sold our seats to someone else in just these 2 minutes. That was a real underhanded thing to do on their part. We asked when the next bus was, he told me it’s at 7:45 and it was standing a little ahead. We didn’t want to miss that now at any cost so we hurried there and got onto it. Shew! Finally something went right. I just wanted to sit and sleep, we all did. But will Mr. Luck give me that? NO!!! Turned out there were only 2 seats available, I was told there was a seat in the driver’s cabin-the seat behind the driver, one glance at it I outright said NO and got down the bus. We asked when the next bus was and he said it was at 9:30 and there were no seats available. I didn’t know how far that was true but had to take his word for it now. I was very livid at the travel agency but didn’t want to waste time arguing with them, had to take a decision and fast. The current tickets could not be cancelled and we had to spend money on tickets again. Even then it was difficult to get tickets now at this time on a weekend. With not many options left and seeing the tired faces of the girls, I and Shubam decided to adjust there, what the heck. To our surprise we were not the only one, there was one more guy sitting on a small chair behind the entry door and we felt sorry for him when he said that he had booked his tickets 2 days ago.
So there we were adjusting in an unfamiliar seat, talking and cracking jokes and all the while profiling the driver, the substitute driver and the conductor. It was ironic because we sometimes jokingly call Shubam truck driver because of the music collection he has:-p. I got a call from mom at that time, didn’t want her to get worried so I just told her we missed our train and were coming by bus. Now my mom was apprehensive cause of my motion sickness so she told me to try sitting in the front seats. Smiling inside I affirmed that I was sitting right in the front (More front that this and I’ll be driving this bloody bus). Jokes apart about an hour into the drive the driver of the bus tells us that 3 more guys will be sitting there. I wasn’t even sure I heard It right, how could it? We both were barely managing there, no question of anyone else coming. We objected strongly to that. We wanted our money back, I asked as to why he lied to us that only we two would be sitting here. They told us to sit if we are interested else we can get down. We were totally furious. Shubam started to fight with them and I had to control him. He was the kind of a guy who couldn’t take his ego and pride being hurt, so are most of us but we didn’t want to create a scene and cause inconvenience to the other passengers. Soon the bus stopped and the people who boarded where some sort of daily wage laborers going home on the weekend. They paid the driver Rs.300 and they thanked the driver for the ‘huge favor ‘. My blood boiled looking at this. We were being treated as cattle herd just for a few extra bucks. Just when I thought it couldn’t get more uncomfortable than this, they started smoking their 555 bidis and cigarettes. It was damn suffocating. I was restless, didn’t know what to do, so I pulled aside the curtains behind to have a peek at the people sitting behind. I was very jealous when I saw them sitting comfortably, watching golmaal-3 and having a good laugh. OUCH to my Ego! Paid the same amount as they did and this is what I get. At this time many thoughts were running in my mind. When you’re in a group and something goes wrong it is very easy to play the blame-game, it’s but human tendency but neither did I want to blame the girl for the 5 min delay start from Mysore for missing the train nor the girl who went to atm for missing the bus. It was not their fault nor intentionally done.
The other people got off the bus when we stopped for dinner. At dinner I gave away all our valuables except cellphones-watch, wallet etc to the girls just to be on the safe side. After dinner we were alone again, so got to lay down a bit. Shubam dozed off for like 2 min when his leg accidentally touched the gear. The driver shook him and woke him up and started abusing him first verbally and then when he started to physicaly I had to intervene and stop the driver, it took a great deal of constraint for me too but I spoke as politely as I could and said it was an accident and he was sleeping and what do you expect in such a crammed place. What I have learnt over the years is that always stat off politely no matter how rude the other person is to you because anger clouds your judgment and rational thinking. But having said that don’t allow people to step on your toes and walk all over you, leave the Gandhigiri in the reel life. I don’t usually lose my cool that easily but If he had even touched Shubam I don’t know…I might have broken his teeth and sent to his manager explaining clearly step by step as to what lead to this.
Soon the next few guys were picked up from some random place and made to sit with us , I couldn’t even stretch my legs as there was a guy sitting right in front of me . The guys beside shubam started falling over shubams shoulders and drooling; disgusted he left and went back. He preferred to stand throughout the rest of the journey. Now I was alone with complete strangers. I had no scope of sleeping as the guy had completely fallen over shubam’s empty place. The other driver was sleeping on the floor of the bus at the back and the short- conductor had no trouble getting under the chair and sleeping on the steel steps there. They were all blissfully asleep. After spending an agonizingly long time thinking about various things and about how I ended up in this situation, I assumed it would be around 4 or 5 in the morning. With great difficulty I pulled out my cell from my pockets and saw the time. It was soo very painfully disappointing …..IT WAS JUS 1:45 AM!!!! I just prayed that this ordeal would be over asap. I tried staying awake, watching the road, thinking about my life, about how little I accomplished in life didn’t help much. I tried resting on the side bars but they were too thin and the screws jutting out from there didn’t help. I was in a semi-trance like state blaming life for how unfair it can be at times, how so little can make so much of a difference- 2 more min or 2 more seats or 2 fewer people or just 2 inches bigger rods. Too much was going through my mind at that point of time. I don’t know how I spent the remainder of the time, but I wasn’t asleep either. Somehow we managed to survive the night and it was about 6:30 when we reached Hyderabad. It was a great relief when I got out of the bus, it was like being underwater and coming out for fresh air. Stretched my legs, took my luggage, noted the dreaded bus’s number, bid adieu to my friends and caught a rick to my place. He asked for 150 bucks, was in no mood to bargain, just wanted to get the hell out of there and get home, had to get ready for office in time.
This is one ride I was not about to forget so soon. But then the experience was like a double edged sword. It just reminded me of how gruesome the world really is outside the Air-conditioned rooms and the protected walls and how strong we need to be to face it. I believe everyone needs to have these reality-jolting experiences once in a while, if u haven’t had yours THEN GET OUT THERE AND GO LIVE IT!!
PS:- Never ever ever use JABBAR TRAVELS! They suck BIG TIME!!!
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