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I had forgotten the joy of travelling in a bus.
I used to detest public transport (past tense).
In the recent past I had chauffeur driven car and now i drive on my own and on rare occassions do miss the public busses
For the past one year i have had no opportunity to travel in the the delhi DTC busses, the low-lying ones of course, but yesterday I did!
And my god the public has increased there were of course the shoves and pushes and surprisingly more “excuse me’s”! that was a major surprise …. or maybe it was just me looking very corporate ….
And the icing on the cake was the weather, it was nice not the usual sweaty Delhi ki garmi… so i didnt mind standing in the bus for a good 20 mins while being thrown left and right depending on the rash turns that the bus took.
As i stood (u are lucky if you get a seat) i noticed two ladies who looked like they had just walked in from the heartlands of India. With their colourful sarees, bangles, bindi and that “I am from rural india and I am very comfortable with my body and I dont care if I have my feet up on the seat … cause really it is not big deal you urban maniacs … cause all you do is slog it out in the office and have no life” …. look and ” I am going to chatter in my heartland language and point fingure at you and smile and snicker while you try to figure out what is soooo absurdly amusing” look
So there I was standing and being snickered at but I didnt mind it in fact i was curious and happy! (?)…
Community travel is interesting … in a car you forget that joy of holding on to your dear life while the bus maneuvers at death speed and that crazy ticket guy who will take his own sweet filthy time to punch holes in your ticket while you stand there waiting for your majesty to give you that ticket which took you a good 8 minutes to get after a lot of shoving pushing and elbowing people.
You forget that there are people more similar to you only from different places with different languages …
You forget that yours and the rest of the 58 people in that bus unconsciously trust the driver a little too much … who is being reckless as hell with your lives
You forget that its okay if someone is snickering at you in an unknown language
And you forget that the bus tickets are still damn cheap! (though that will change soon)
Me goes to boss after working on a presentation all day and all night.
He flips, reads and looks out the window.
Then he says – “Excellent first draft!”
Pheww
And then he goes ahead and rapes it …
Oh well …
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.
Me1- I cant believe its for life
Me2 - What?
Me1 – This marriage thing … what else?
Me2 – Yaaa neither can I believe it is
Me1 – So what to do now?
Me2 – Run away
Me1 – It is tempting
Me2 – But you will have to take the public transport … you know
Me1 – Umm … yaaaa …. That wont be nice
Me2 – Not only will it be crowded but also too much stops and then you are not even sure, if you want to run away that bad
Me1 – I cant believe I am still digesting the fact … womaaaan!
My end is near, so i am doing things that I wanted to (how bollywood can i get?!)
Met up with my x and told him all that I wanted to. So it is out of my system and into his. And doesnt feel so bad cause now it doesnt matter
Today I will run on that green patch in the embassy area. Have been passing that patch for a year now and havent done that so weeeee …. I shall run!
Met up with my model friend, she made all the mistakes she wanted to in life and now at 30 she stays alone looking for Mr Right. Felt a bit sorry for her, but I know that she is having a blast doing it her way.
Will be eating lunch at the dhabba outside my office, its dirty, filthy and all the drivers come there but I have heard the food rocks… reason enough to go
More updates … as I go along …
Doesnt matter how wonderful it is … cause i dont want it
The date will go down in Disengage History as a crucial turn of events.
Today of course is the day the end of me has started in a speedier manner.
The day when Disengage let go of her thoughts, principles, aims and perhaps her dreams … to let go … to try to find peace…
To jump with her eyes tight shut in the dark abyss with no rope ….. only trusting that voice which says … don’t worry it will be fine.
And no she didn’t want to jump, she was quite happy on the ground she thought will be there for as long as she will require it
She thought she had time to make her mind …. she didn’t realise that something will be shoved down her throat … and like a bitter pill … she will have to swallow.
It is scaring the hell out of me … so i try not to think about it …
But one thing is for sure it is the end of me … …. me as I know me
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
Its feels like my last September as a kid.
I dont want to imagine/ think what it will be like next year. (My mom does that)
I am growing up (Why oh Why oh Why???!!!!) and i am being forced into adulthood and i shall not go calmly, i shall go down kicking and screaming.
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