City Bus Ride

Yesterday, it was our 56^th Republic day. We have decided to attend the Republic day celebrations at Pune. Not because, I want to be see all the flag hoisting and parade and all. Frankly, after my college days, I have never taken part in any Republic day or Independence Day parade. It’s not because I am against such celebrations, but I think, I don’t have anything to contribute by participating in such a function. But this time, I had to participate because I have agreed to Vinita, that I shall also join her to take part in the event in a different dimension. I shall come to that part in a different section. In this section, I would like to share my experience of traveling in PMTC bus to the police grounds to attend the Republic day.

The mail which got the earlier day from Vinita says, that the only rule in attending the function is that we all have to come either by walk, or by cycle or take public transport for commuting to the parade grounds. At that point I thought, ‘why such a restriction man’. Immediately I thought, let me experience it. Thousands of people regularly commute in the city buses daily and I have never traveled in the city bus after coming to Pune. So I decided to take a city bus. The initial thoughts which bumped was, the frequency of bus service is very less, also I don’t know the timings of the bus, also when should I set out from home to reach parade grounds by 8.45 am etc. I decided to start by 7.55 am thinking of the high probability of getting a bus at 8 am.

As I expected, there was a bus at 8 am. I boarded it with other fellow passengers. I was little relieved of getting a seat. The bus was moving pretty fast as there were not much vehicles on the road. My observing mind started its job. Even though I had traveled enough, in buses at my home town, it was a different experience this time, may be because my perception about the world is changing or may be because my mind has decided that this is just a journey to experience, and is not having any critical missions at the end of the journey.

Anyway, I could see a complete whole world inside the bus. It’s a world of its own. It’s a co- system of people of different kind. Different kind of people; they might have boarded from different places; might be heading for different places for different purposes. Just sharing space; for few minutes. Some relations may start inside, in those few minutes. The journey can take one through a variety of emotions inside you. One guy was trying to grab a seat before the old gentleman standing nearby takes it. I could see the gentleman’s eyes feeling sorry for the aggressive mind of the young guy. But there was another school boy giving his seat for the middle aged person who has a kid in his hand. That’s great, there are generous boys also around. The other person who was standing in the middle of the bus was rushing to get down through the crowd. On his way, he had pressed hard on another person’s foot and I could see a painful face. Yet he forgave him, considering the situation. On some other stop an elderly person got inside with a big cloth bag and was trying hard to push it under some seat. He could do it with the help of one guy sitting in the long seat at the back. Also there were some girls, with a shy face, an old woman wondering why these people are not giving me a seat etc. In between was the conductor- the manager, running across, at times screaming for change (coins), shouting at another to move to the front, looking to the doors to see, if there are anybody waiting to get down in the next stop. Finally I reached shivaji nagar, got down and walked to the police grounds.

While on my return journey, I had a different experience. When the conductor came, I asked him, how much it to reach the university junction. He told something, but I couldn’t understand. I asked again and he told the same thing. Then I understood that he is speaking in marathi. I was wondering why he was doing so, even if I am asking him in Hindi. So I took help of a nearby marathi guy to decipher what he is saying. He quickly helped me and told that it’s Rs. 2.50. So I gave the conductor a 2Rs coin and two 25 paise coin. Then he said, give me 50 paise. I wondered and told him that I have given him 50 paise only. Then he told, he can’t accept 25 paise coins. Oh that was the first time; I was noticing that 25 paise coins are not of any use. Finally I got down when the bus reached university junction.

At the university junction, I had to wait for about 20 minutes to get a bus to Pashan. Waiting for a bus, is not a good experience by any chance. Even though I was not in any hurry that day, I felt the pain of waiting. I was wondering how painful it would be, to wait for a bus, when one is in a hurry to office or college. That, sometimes, the bus which comes after waiting for a long time may not stop at your stop, because there is no space to accommodate more passengers. I started thinking about all the experiences I had during my journey and also those about those experiences that could have happened to others at various circumstances. It took me to think from a level below me, understand the pain and at least feel compassion to those unlucky ones who have, but to depend on these public transports for their daily commutation. I thanked Vinita for giving me an opportunity for having such an experience, which other I would not have experimented.