Of Bus-Rides And Blissful Journeys!

 

When I think about buses, what prominently comes to my mind is CSTM Station (Mumbai). One may wonder, what does a station have to do with buses?!

My office was in Colaba. I used to travel by train from Dombivli to CSTM. Just outside the station, there was the stop for buses that ran for Colaba. After standing for an hour in the train, I would stand in a long line for the bus. But the line would move on quickly and buses came every few minutes or so. Hence it wasn’t much of a trouble and I could easily board the bus and could get a seat by the window. It was such a relief to finally sit after standing for a long time!

The drop-off point was very near to my office and it also operated as a pick-up point for buses going towards CSTM station in the evening. I could appreciate how convenient the bus was only when I decided to walk to my office from the station in the morning. It so happened that once the queue was indeed very long for the bus and I was already frustrated because of the crowded train. Standing in the serpentine queue felt overwhelming that day and out of sheer frustration, I decided to walk to my office. It took me half-n-hour to reach the office by foot. But I came across some vendors selling books in the pavement near Colaba. And that decided it for me! Since that day, I grabbed every opportunity to walk to my office, peruse the books (and buy them, of course), listen to some music and reach the office feeling invigorated by the walk. Gradually I started walking in the evenings too towards the station but this had a different incentive. There was a Bhel-puri vendor near Hutatma Chowk (also known as Fountain) who made the most delicious and spicy Bhel that I have ever come across. I would buy a book from the road-side vendor, buy the Bhel, deliberately choose a slow-local train that would take one-n-half hours to reach Dombivli, sit by the window and enjoy reading the book while munching on spicy Bhel. If asked, this is the thing that I miss most about my working days!

My tryst with buses didn’t end there. Every weekend, I would feel the urge to go out somewhere. I and my husband would board a bus from Dombivli to go to Vashi. There were other ways to go to Vashi. There were local trains too. But I always insisted on traveling by bus. Before boarding the bus, my husband would buy some packets of chips and a bottle of cold-drinks. Sometimes I would download some songs in my mobile and we would enjoy the ride, listening to soulful melodies, while munching on chips and enjoying the drive through the city.

Talking about scenery, I have had the most wonderful time travelling to other cities by bus. While staying in Dombivli, I and my husband would often go to Shirdi by bus. It used to depart at night. I cannot describe the cozy feeling of travelling at night in a dimly-lit bus, watching the dark road outside only illuminated by the occasional vehicle passing by, all the while listening to songs of yesteryears. The return journey from Shirdi to Mumbai used to be during the day and I absolutely loved it. The bus would pass through many villages, offering beautiful glimpses of scenic locales and life in rural areas. I remember one particular return trip from Shirdi. It was raining the entire route and our bus passed by Bhandardaara, a scenic spot in Maharashtra that many people frequently visit during rains to enjoy natural waterfalls. It was an unforgettable trip as we passed beautiful lakes and saw lush green hills at the far end. And talking about hills, the route from Shirdi to Dombivli required passing through the famous and immensely beautiful Malshej Ghat. The number of times we have passed through this mountainous route! I am glad that this was a time when the mobiles didn’t have camera, else I would have missed seeing the original beauty of the places while trying to capture their images in the camera.

I and my husband always search for opportunities to travel to other cities by bus. Hyderabad is centrally located such that from most cities, it is easily accessible by road. We have travelled to Nagpur, Bengaluru, Chennai and even Mumbai by bus. It is an amusing (yet slightly cumbersome) experience to sleep in a running bus. While the beds are spacious and there is no dearth of blankets, one can feel every motion of the bus while lying down. On my first over-night journey on a sleeper-bus, I found it extremely difficult to sleep as I kept swaying in whatever direction the bus turned.  But now, considering the number of trips my family has made in the bus, I have become used to it and actually look forward to the trips. There is something extremely cozy about travelling on a highway at night, lounging on a bed placed at a higher level inside the bus so that we can see outside the window.

In Hyderabad, special buses named Pushpak operate to and from the airport. These are air-conditioned, having comfortably spacious seats and large windows. I have often travelled in these buses with my family. I have come to love these rides. I and my husband often prefer to travel by the bus whenever we need to go to the airport to either pick-up or drop any relative.

My recent over-night bus journey was from Palakkad (Kerala) to Bengaluru last year in the month of May. This was a most memorable experience for me, my kid and my husband as we had to wait for almost two hours at night on the highway for the bus. I was worried that probably the bus missed our pick-up point. My kid was feeling the pangs of hunger and my husband had had it with the mosquitoes that had started viewing us as the menu for their dinner. The bus came at about 1 in the night and the moment we lay down on the bed, we fell asleep.

I also had a memorable experience of travelling in a tour bus. Last year, in the month of October, I had been to Mumbai and wanted to show the landmarks of the city to my kid. There are Mumbai Darshan buses departing from Dombivli. I, my son and my sister-in-law booked seats for the same and went on the one-day sightseeing tour. The remarkable part of the tour was the guide. While giving information about the various landmarks, he said a lot of jokes, most of which, I am sure, were repeated by him every day. Sometimes people laughed, sometimes they didn’t, but it did not deter him. He kept entertaining the passengers with his funny anecdotes and remarks. It gave me a glimpse into the life of guides. I wonder how they manage to survive today when information is available to everyone through their mobiles and websites. It must be tough, keeping up with the jokes even though people aren’t laughing, repeating the same jokes and information and travelling by the same route every day. Not everyone is made to be a guide, I guess!

Hyderabad offered me a lot of chances to travel by bus. The place where our rental home used to be, had a bus-station from where buses would start their journey and return to. It was most convenient for us as we had to walk for just five minutes from our home to reach the bus-stop. I have lost count of the number of times we have travelled by bus to the station to pick up our relatives and to drop them off. Having shifted to another place now, we do not often travel in city buses. But they made our journey very comfortable, all the while that we were in that part of the town.

My kid loves over-night bus journeys. We are just waiting for another opportunity to travel by bus. Without my knowledge, somehow, the bus has become a most memorable part of my life. I hope that the buses never go out of service and continue to spread joy among the people with their simplicity, speed and charm!