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How to travel in Gurgaon if you dont have a car of your own.
Since the time i have shifted to gurgaon, I have had a harrowing time commuting. This city is a disaster when it comes to public transport. There is nothing in the name of decent mode of transport.
Thankfully i live very close to my office, a distance of 10 odd kms that are quickly covered in a car. It takes about 10 minutes in a self driven vehicle. Unfortunately i dont have a car of my own right now, so i am stuck taking rides and mostly the pathetic gurgaon public transport.
My experience has made me identify few of the modes that can be used to travel in Gurgaon (Government do something about this shoddy place)
1. Green Line Busses/ DTC Buses
These buses are a rarity. And more rare is when they actually stop at a bus stop. And bus stops there are none, people stand on the sied of the road and wait endlessly for a bus to turn up. They are ofcourse driven by high speed ex-truck walas, who are living their dream of mowing down people on the road. The few buses that I have encountered in my 7 months stay here, run at a speed of 80+ kms and are jam packed with people.
They never come on time and their frequency is an hour plus. They also dont run on the NH 8 road section and usually are more for the inner gurgaon or old gurgaon. Hence quite useless for me.
2. Short Distance Seven Seaters
These are a marvel. I could write a book on these amazing piece of engineering. They have been designed to seat a maximum of 8 people comfortably. But these seven seaters dont move an inch untill and unless there are 16 people in it (and that includes the driver, thank god for that!). It is shaped as a bigger autorickshaw that are very common in delhi. Four people in the back slab of the rickshaw, 8 in the middle and 3 more sharing space with the driver in the front.
The driver mostly is an underage kid, accompanied by someone, who keeps calling the customers. These seven seaters are mostly frequented by the lower class of people but I have quite often spotted well to do people also travelling in it (ofcourse out of desperation). As nobody in their right mind would like to be squashed from all sides and keep that position till the end of their journey and ofcourse not meet eye to eye with 8 people who are pretty much breathing down your neck.
It give a very “We are the world, we are the children” kind of a feeling that I would rather avoid. I was once sitting next to a lady with a kid. Shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg and the kid kept playing with my chunni and that just shows how close you are in that confined space. Ofcourse i couldnt care less about the chunni, all i wanted was the ride to get over.
Desperation makes you do a lot of things you rather not. The fare for these short distance seven seaters are Rs. 5. I used to take them regularly but avoid them like the plague now. Aviod if you can afford to.
3. Cycle Rickshaws
These are the cycle rickshaws with a driver paddling in the front and mostly with a covering in the back for the commuter. These rickshaws are very common in the Chandni Chowk Area of Delhi and will charge you anything from 20 – 150 depending on the distance. They are a big no no for me again as a distance of 10 kms on a cycle rickshaw is ridiculous. They are quite frequent in gurgaon as well and you can spot one anywhere on the road.
4. Random Taxis
The Random taxis are actually illegal and a lot of time it has happend that hte Haryana police has stopped them and told the commuters to get down while charging the driver some 200-500 Rs as a fine. But these taxis are effective. They are basically random taxi walas that are going from one distance to another and have a bit of spare time and would rather ferry people than go the same distance and not make money.
So these random taxi walas will pick up people and drop them according to where their destination is, like Dhaula Kuan, Nehru Place, Shankar Chowk (Gurgaon) and even Noida and ofcourse the starting point is Gurgaon. They charge anything from Rs. 5 – 20 (but not more than that). I usually take these.
5. Car Pooling
Car pooling is ofcourse the best option. I use it quite frequently, though the only issue here is that I take a ride more than I give a ride. Me and my friends are trying to get in a Corporate Car Pooling Service that will benefit a lot of people and make our roads less congested. Lets see how that works out.
FYI- The stretch that i travel on is on the NH8.
For a while i have been comfortably numb.
Taking in everything that comes my way, with a smile.
I have let the course of my life be directed by the decisions made by others and not get angry not get pissed off if things didn’t go my way and not be disappointed when I didn’t get what i want.
This is the stage when you know that you want more, but you rather not as the fine balance that has been created will break and wont get back to its initial stage.
But does it have to break? to grow? am i hindering it? Should i just let go? Should i just do what i want? or should i just be in the comfortably numb stage as long as i can? should i “break free”? But break free and then what? Do i need another option to let go of this one?
Should i keep concentrating on the things that i feel are important and just move with the flow??
Am I waiting for Divine intervention AGAIN?!
I feel its drink time … and more than one will do.
As the Satyam controversy takes a new turn and the blame game starts. There is a tension in the office air. A silence peppered with the keyboard clicks. The whooshing of coffee machines and the hush talks in the corners.
I feel a bit depressed with my phone ringing off the hook enquiring all is well? And my boss (oh he is so sweet!) rattles away on the phone -
Life must go on … until physically hanged … virtual hanging toh ho gayee hai …
I pop a disprin … mull over the media frenzy … 4th cup of coffee … (i wasn’t this tense at my wedding… i wonder)
I feel small … little … insignificant … a pawn in the bigger scheme of things … a small speck whose destiny has been decided … all that I can do is try to be happier or just throw a bitch fit!
Few office learnings, I value, I treasure and I am starting to follow – 
1. Walk slow and I mean really slooooow, especially when walking towards the office or walking to or from a place for any official work
2. Eat. Relish each bite. Slow eating is a good, healthy exercise.
Please chew your food and take few sips of that cola, spend 30 minutes on a meal and if pepered with a lively discussion stretch it to 60 minutes, especially when in office
3. Do not and I mean it DO Not tell the boss that you need more work. The outcome for this is ALWAYS and I seriously mean it ALWAYS is MORE CRAP WORK!
4. Do not be Happy and Smiling in Office, instead be the sulky, long faced employee. Honestly no one cares and the smiles will just lead to more conversation and more work and more WORK!!!
This gets me to the question – Am I overworked?
5. Quiting is NOT an Option. YOu WILL not quit and dreaming about that beach holiday while sitting under an AC duct (that works on full blast) is just going to lead to more misery
Thats all folks —- More later ……
I will confess beforehand that I haven’t read the book. Though I will buy it today itself and start reading. But the first thing that comes to my mind when I read the excerpts of the book is that it is India Bashing at its best.
What bothers me more than anything is the fact that in all the reviews the “the dark heart” of India aspect has been highlighted.
For years money has been made in art, literature and social work, by selling poor Indians and their hungry kids with their torn clothes, running noses and deprived eyes, running bare-feet on the roads, begging for alms and mercy.
There have been innumerous photographs, paintings that have sold the poverty of India at its best.
And literature pretty much takes the cake, starting with Amartya Sen, Salman Rushdie to name a few noted authors
A particular article in the Telegraph starts of with The White Tiger and then just goes on and on about the details of poverty in India.
Slums and Mumbai have become synonyms. Beggars on the streets of India are a must see for tourists. Hungry-Indian-Kids are words used together more often than not.
I can’t digest this a wee bit, why highlight a certain aspect of a country? And by doing so throw the dignity/ self respect of the people involved (the beggars, slum dwellers) down the drain
Mr. Adiga, to really drill in the poor aspect of India, I refuse to shell out Rs 400 for your book, instead I shall read the pirated version of your book (Rs 100)
Me a party pooper? …
Maybe
I am getting that feeling, the one that Kareena Kapoor got in Jab We Met ( I feel very filmy right now!) … that feeling that my train is going to leave and if i dont hurry right now, it will be too late.
Unfortunately the feeling that I am getting is an offshoot of the same, just a little more sadder …. mine is - that I have already missed by train and there is no way I can catch it…. no chance …. no Cute/ rich/ humrous/ adorable Sahid Kapoor … to rescue me in his all new Merc …. no no no
Misery Misery Misery
The train has gone and I am left stranded here, freezing under the AC shaft, wiping my running nose … drinking cups tea … shivering like a fool
Oh well… I think the end is near! …
Where is that dazzling smile that I am known for ??
Where is the fun fun!?
Where is the insane crazy abundance??
And where the hell is the wohhoooo yeyyyyyy feeling ???
I dont feel it anymore…
I want my train back. I couldnt have missed it.
Sign. . .
There is something about me that I now know for sure.
A reality that stares at me now, the word is Hypocrite
I am all talk, all high flying mighty talk!
and when it comes to doing, i do no harm. I bend, i am flexible, i adapt.
In my actions, there is none of that I WILL NOT BEND (cause i always do), I will NOT dither from my path (cause i always do) I WILL prevail (i never do)
Sob!
I feel miserable!!
Sob SOb
One the eve of Independence Day of our great country India I was all praise to the development and high growth rate. The way our country has surpassed colonial rule and come up with such vigor and glory is commendable.
14th of August was also the day our offices were shutting at 4:30, our buses were going to leave sharp at 4:30 and ferry us back to the comforts of our home.
Or so I thought.
The clock struck 4:30 and my colleagues and me … marched towards the bus, we unsuspecting souls…. Who knew at that point that the evening was going to go horribly wrong?
Well the bus was late (nothing new!) as whenever it rains in Gurgaon, the traffic goes kaput and water clogs as if we are in some shanty slum rather than the high flying DLF Cyber City area that houses the top of the class MNC’s the world has seen… EnY, WNS, Orange, Ericsson etc .. You name it they are there.
The traffic was crawling at the speed of .005 meters/ 20 minutes. Each car was bumper to bumper and everywhere you looked you could see cars, buses and more cars stuck, ofcourse …not moving.
There was an abundance of rain, flared tempers, honking and distress talks over the mobile phones.
Well we waited first in the pouring rain, huddled under an umbrella, with our shoes soaking in water 4:30 turned to 5. “Oh the bus is going to be here any minute” We searched in the lock jaw traffic, we searched in hope, in the anticipation of a miracle that this traffic is going to get better in a few minutes time.
5:30 Heated exchanges, 6:00 Blame game, 6:30 More rain, 7:00 No bus in sight.
Soaking to the bones, our patience run out, we headed towards the food court our spirits down looking for some relief in tea and bread pakoras.
Surprise surprise we managed to share a laugh or two. It’s a marvel how people connect in difficult situations. 7:40 is when we sat in the bus. The traffic crawled till Moti Bagh, 9:30 is when I reached India Gate and then home.
A total of 5 hours washed in the rains.
On the eve of 15th of August 2008, I made a few friends and marveled at my patience and ofcourse learnt a lesson – When it rains, it pours and when it pours don’t you dare come to Gurgaon.
Yes I feel it every Tuesday/ Wednesday. Its a feeling I believe that a lot of working professionals feel. I will like to term it as the Mid Week Crisis.
The mid week Crisis is a feeling of doom, a feeling of not living your life to the fullest, a feeling that says - work is not all important; Oh My GOd what are you doing with your life?! Why are you not travelling? What arent you involved in more activities?
What about some value add to your personal life?? Take a break/ go for a trek/ be more proactive. Explore… etc etc
When you do get hit by this crisis, you call people and you want to find out what are they upto. You want to know if you can join in their activity. You are an eager beaver to connect. You sign into your Facebook account and drop in “Hi” to long forgottn friends and you shamelessly look in their albums.
The day it hits is Wednesday. It is also the day I get most of the calls from my friends … saying – “Lets do something na…” ”We need to!! Life will pass us by…” This is the day most of the plans get made.
The crisis really gets bad when no one calls… when there are no plans… when all you can do is ponder and ponder about how ur life is going to be spent sitting on the 8th Floor of a building that is hell bent on freezing you to death with their AC on full blast and endlessly typing away at your computer and smiling politely to people and and gulping insane amount of coffee down your throat and analysing numbers and coming up with reports that people will read for half a minute and then use to scribble their To Do List for the Weekend and and and ……
The crisis has hit, time to log on to Facebook and pretend – I am living THE life!
Okay so i made a mistake
Yes it did accelerate to higher authorities ! And ofcourse i was being callous! And now i do feel like shit
Will i be more careful next time ?
That depends … but from flying on cloud nine to licking the gravel… it is a rude awakening.
These awakenings are not only required but also needed for a person to keep their head firmly on their shoulder orelse you keep flying and dont understand that at the end of the day you are just a little speck in the bigger scheme of things.
And your elimanation or existence in the scheme is never permanent nor is it of any importance to the scheme … cause there will be people who will fill in, in your place.
Damn
I am back on earth.
I want my ………..Coffeeeeeee
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