The 2.30 Bus..

Some memories get etched up in your memories forever. They become part of our being. For a sensitive person like me, sometimes even an insignificant thing becomes a permanently marked memory. It may sound idiotic in today’s practical world.

Spending vacations were not in fashion in the eighties when we grew up. The term vacation simply meant that one travels to his or her native place. People would look with awe and wonder when one traveled to places like Shirdi or other places of pilgrimage.  Today the scene has changed totally.

Our vacation like many others, those days only meant that we were packed up and sent to our native place in Konkan, the coastal belt of Maharashtra, well endowed with nature and natural beauty. But then, the journey was not easy as it is today. The only accessible mode of travel for a common man was the State Transport red buses which are even today called as ST buses. Traveling by Private Luxury buses were not the luxury that our parents could afford them. 

The entire trip was a sort of adventure if anyone of my generation remembers. The reservation counter would start booking one month earlier and exact dates were to be accordingly planned. A day before the date of reservation, my dad would go to Parel ST Depot and wait in the long queue, so that he gets an opportunity to book the ticket the next morning when the counters opened at 08.00 am. Almost every time my dad would come like a winner waving those prized tickets which he booked after a struggling wait for around 10-12 hours. Computerized reservation was not a known term then.

As the date of journey neared, the excitement used to increase. The packing of clothes, sweets, and dresses for our extended families in the native places would make it sure that we had to carry large baggage. The metal trunk, which I still have kept with me as my prized possession of those good old days used to become very heavy.  

The bus would arrive at the stand in the Parel Depot at around 2.15 pm and there used to be another fight to enter inside. Although the entire bus used to for reserved ticket holders the fight never ceased. Then there was always a nightmarish experience to locate a Coolie to load the bag on top of the bus. Every time at least one fight used to take place with co-passengers over seats, luggage etc.

Exactly at around 2.30 pm, the bus used to chug out. Traveling by window seat was and still continues to be my favorite activity.  The Mumbai in the eighties was not as crowded as it is today. The city used to end somewhere after Vashi. The first stop those days, from where we used to assume that we have really started our journey was Panvel. Panvel used to sound so far away those days. The bus ride was never a joyous one, but, what can a person do when he has no other option?

The bus would halt for dinner break at Indapur. The canteen there was a shabby place and was always crowded. I used to feel nausea and would sometimes vomit during bus travels, due to which I would intake very less food.

The very unique and very innovative thing was that exactly at the same time, a bus would depart from my native place daily and they both met at the same time at Chiplun Bus Depot, which also indicated that we have reached halfway to our destination. Sometimes, when the driver of one bus drove fast, the passengers would have to wait for the other bus. The uniqueness was that the drivers would change and the driver that drove the bus from Mumbai to Chiplun would drive the bus that came from my native place to Mumbai. The other driver would do the same and drive the Bus that came from Mumbai to my native place.

Tired will be a very weak word to describe the entire journey. However, as a child, I used to enjoy every bit of it. 

After the vacation when we left our native place the village folks, my cousins would gather at the Bus stand to see us off. Their teary moist eyes meant a lot then, those tears were true. However, as the world around us changed, everything has changed, selfishness has engulfed all relationships. Gone are those days of true closeness. There is an air of formality in the relations now. My relatives and cousins are no different. Whenever economics rules over emotions, emotions are lame losers.

The Konkan Railway changed the entire scenario. Travel has eased, people have progressed, commercialization is taking place at a very mad pace. I happened to be near the bus stand at around 2 pm expecting the jamboree of people to see off their near and dear ones. But, there was an air of silence, apart from few stray dogs and a couple of people who had lost it shared the empty bus stand. I asked the person accompanying me what happened to the 2.30 bus. Pat came the reply, they have stopped the bus service as people have stopped plying due to easier mode i.e. railways.

I felt bad, the change was good, I tried to convince myself, the journey has now become relatively easier. But, the bus had contributed a handful of memories in my life, that won’t fade away so easily.

A few good men..

Travelling has been my weakness. I love to travel a lot. Traveling by train or by vehicle satiates my hunger more than by air, as there is very little to explore during air travels. I am able to keep alive in me that enthusiastic child, who craves for that window seat. Even while traveling with a group of friends i look aloof as i keep myself busy enjoying the fast changing moving world outside the window of that train, bus or car. The world outside keeps on changing every inch the vehicle moves, one, if he or she has that fervor can enjoy the changing nature, observe keenly the changing landscapes and along with it the changing culture, the way the people dress, their houses, their farms, the trees, the animals, the roadside hoardings, the name boards, the number plates and the signages. Everything keeps on changing. Only the observer must be there to observe the changes that take place.

I made few friends and when friendship grew we went to explore places outside the hustle and bustle of Mumbai. One such trip we organized was long back to Punjab. Everything was precisely planned and we traveled by train. The Golden Temple Express to be specific. The train traverses through the heart of India and crosses atleast five to six states to reach its destination. However, I enjoyed every bit of it. The train chugged into Amritsar station at around 9 am the third morning. We were all tired by this long travel of about 33 hours. Those were days of rashness and the group was youthful too. We had not made any arrangements for stay or had planned our trip. Just as we reached outside the station we met a young guy who inquired if we needed a vehicle to travel. Indeed, we required one. I replied in affirmative on which he asked how many people were there in all. I said five. He said he owns a nine-seater autorickshaw and could arrange for a hotel for us to freshen up. I discussed with my team and we were quite happy with his proposal. It was a good idea to explore Punjab in an open vehicle we said. Throughout the day this young lad whose name was Niraj was with us. It was lunch time, he took us to a Dhaba and stood outside to have some food for himself. We invited him to join us, but, he was hesitant. We forced him to join us and we all ate together. This simple friendly act of ours moved the driver so much, he said that we were first such travelers who cared for the driver and the guy became, even more, friendlier and helped us out and ensured that we had a good day in Punjab. His duty had ended at 9 pm in the night, we checked into the hotel, but, he said that he would come back with his autorickshaw to drop us to the bus depot from where we were scheduled to pick the bus to Katra in Jammu. This was not in the initial plan. One friendly gesture on our part had turned the magic and the guy remained in touch with us even today. After that trip, we went to Punjab twice more and every time we ensured that we meet. The guy today is our friend and a person to rely upon when we reach in Punjab.

One such driving genius we found was on our Leh Tour some two years ago. His name was Ashique, he was from Jammu. A smart young guy, lean and mean and was very quirky and had a very good sense of humor to add to it. To our surprise, he was quite addicted to smartphones and chatted quite a bit on WhatsApp. We all befriended him and he shared quite a few anecdotes with him. When you befriend a driver on long tours, it guarantees that your tours are no more boring. The driver will tell you many a tales, some real, some imaginary some fascinating, some scary. For eg. When we were just ascending that mighty Zojilla pass (one can realize the gravity of it if he or she has travelled it at least once), the driver Manoj, casually said, the last time I came through this pass was two months ago, and I had carried a coffin with a dead body on the top of my vehicle. Imagine, you are crossing one of the most treacherous roads of the world and the man scares you telling that you are traveling by a somewhat haunted vehicle.

This driver Ashique took us to Leh all the way from Jammu. The ride was quite comfortable, he seemed to be an experienced hand on that road. The test of character of a person comes only during testing times. This guy was very rudely tested, in fact, we were tested. It so happened that, the road from Kargil to Srinagar was kept open for one-way traffic for specific hours of the day. The locals informed us that the vehicular traffic would halt for descend at 7 am in the morning. Due to the causal approach of one of our colleague, we missed the deadline and we lost one precious day in the forests on the outskirts of Kargil. The vehicular traffic was to move only at 7 in the evening, which meant that we had lost 12 precious hours of travel. Again, we were informed that the vehicles would be stopped at Drass and would be allowed to descend Zojilla pass only after 3 in the morning. It was the huge loss of time, we had to catch the train at Jammu, the next evening at 7 pm. The driver had to start his vehicle in the dead of the night at 3 am and cross Drass, Zojilla Pass, the Sonmarg, Srinagar and reach Jammu before 6 pm. This gentleman drove the vehicle at 3 am in the morning, took a half an hour break in the morning on the outskirts of Sonamarg for breakfast, he did not eat much, saying that he would fall asleep if he ate too much. He promised us that he would take us to Jammu by 6. And he did just that. It was not his fault that we lost some 15 hours, any other driver could have given an excuse, some crooked ones might have deliberately ensured that we reached late, so that we could book him further up to Delhi. But, this man ensured that we reach in time.

What special did we do, with Niraj, Sonu, Manoj, Ashique or Gurwinder our Driver on our recent trip to Delhi? We just befriended them, we were humane with them, it was not a contractual relationship between a driver and tourists, we made them part of our group and they loved that.

There were many such good souls that we encountered in our long journey, the sporting and bubbly Sonu driver who accompanied us from Katra to Manali to Ferozpur. Manoj who was with us from Katra to Leh to Srinagar on our next trip or Gurwinder Singh, were all good people. I firmly believe that if you are good, the supreme power ensures that you meet with equally good people. Looking back now after ten years of travel I sometimes wonder whether our trips would have been so memorable had we not met with these good people. Our simple act of humanity moved their hearts, be the sharing of food with Niraj or sharing our hotel rooms with Manoj or Gurwinder. These drivers felt that we were a class above them and showed kindness which they rarely encountered. We, humans, are good in making compartments on basis of gender, caste, creed, religion, economic activity while inertly we all are the same creations of God. I have not seen any other species apart from human beings having this habit of compartmentalization. When we connect with others on that natural plane of humanity it touches hearts and then the connection is firm and forever. No wonder that Niraj never forgets to call us and inquire about us even today, No wonder Ashique and Gurwinder WhatsApp us almost everyday. We have made quite a good friends, isn’t it ?