I distinctly remember that day, sometime in the fourth year of college. I think it was my first bus journey alone in India (I had traveled by bus alone in UK before, and by train in India, more number of times than I can count on my fingers). It was definitely the first bus journey alone in India which was being done in a covert manner-it's up to you to guess the reason ;-)
The reason it deserves a post is - bus journeys in India can never be ordinary. Its just not possible. And you don't even need to be going to a small faraway village in a run-down bus. It can be a (supposedly) comfortable air-conditioned bus, but they will make sure you are on the edge of your seat (both literally and figuratively) when you are dealing with the bus operators.
Reasons (hey, I tried my best to avoid making a bulleted list!):
# 1 : Every bus ride you take, there's a 50% chance that you are being taken for a ride.
# 2 : The bus never starts on time. If it does, assume something's fishy going on (refer to #1).
# 3 : At times, you'll be taken away from where you bought a ticket to some random different place in a minibus - I have no clue why - but it always seems shady - and always ends up in further delay of the departure.
But every cloud has a silver lining!
My journey to Pune had a quiet a few BIG incentives (oh no, another list!):
(in descending order of their 'incentivising' power)
# 1 : What's there at the end of it: I had a very strong motivation to reach Pune and meet someone. :-) The bus is one of the fastest and most economical ways to go from Bombay to Pune.
# 2 : Food: The 3-4 hour bus journey always has a food-break somewhere in the middle. Ah, those tasty aloo-bondas and pav-bhajis. A good enough reason to skip breakfast before boarding the bus.
# 3 : Scenery: The road to Pune goes through lush green hills, and has a very scenic route. If you happen to be going in the rainy season, you might chance upon a cute little waterfall too.
# 4 : The in-bus movie: (this one I am afraid, is highly subjective and dependent on people's choice and inclination) You don't get to choose the movie - the bus driver/conductor does. And you've got to watch it. It's up to you to enjoy it. :-)
Have you travelled Bombay to Pune (or the other way round) on bus? How was your experience?
my bus journeys between mumbai and pune have always been boring. except this one time i went with dad while it was raining. i had a fun time clicking away pix wid dad :D :D and the expressway is really awesome during the rainy season. and yes the alu bondas are yummy too and having them while u're travelling is just another experience.
ReplyDeleteenjoy the comics URL i'm posting.
RT
I love travelling during the monsoons - all the greenery and the yummy vada pavs also help :)
ReplyDeleteCrap, I'll never complain about my bus ride experiences again, even if "The Chipmunks" movie is playing.
ReplyDeleteMy Mumbai Pune trip was an amazing one...I caught the last bus from chembur...
ReplyDelete1. I paid for a volvo and it wasn't a volvo
2. There was this frustated guy sitting by my side who was drinking and was making calls every now and then and was shouting so he din let me sleep for a minute.
3. The bus started on time, but it stopped at some place outside mumbai for 30mins. It stopped for the food for another 30 mins.
4. It took the old highway
5. I started from mumbai at 9.30PM and I reached Pune at 3.00AM and finally to Pensi's room at 3.30AM, so a total of 7hrs journey from IIT to Pensi's room.
It was great later on as Pensi has all the arrangement done and we saw the sun rise with a glass of whiskey and khakra.
Ha ha I remember the minibus thing and definitely felt I was being taken for a 'ride'. My experience was rather dull. Must be because I splept AS SOON AS the bus started moving, cleanly missed the (apparently tasty) food stops, the scenery AND the movie and woke up only when I reached Vashi (suburbian Mumbai)!
ReplyDelete@RT ji: Kabhi photos upload karo :) And well, I had some good reason to go to Pune, you know, so it probably felt like a much better experience! :)
ReplyDelete@Kits: Exactly my point! Unfortunately, I've moved away from Bombay!
@Candice: Well, its not that bad! Maybe, am a tad too sarcastic! To be frank, I enjoyed the journey and its result! :)
ReplyDelete@Gollum: Yeah, night-time travel: The Bombay/Pune city portion take up a lot of time. Vaise, why would the bus take the old highway?
@Chandni: Did you travel late evening/night? Actually, all my journeys back from Pune to Bombay are very similar to that - no enthu to get down for food breaks, and I end up sleeping the whole time! Maybe, for me, it could have been to do with not being excited to leave Pune and reach Bombay.
ReplyDeletewhy the fuck I am supposed to know that?
ReplyDeleteWe don't get to choose the movie, AND we don't get to control the volume...
ReplyDelete@Kiran: I completely agree. :(
ReplyDeletep.s. How did you chance upon this blog? :)
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