Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Taking the bus in Bangalore

(image source: The Hindu)
Some cons:

1) all buses are full. if you think the next bus will be less full, you are wrong. they are ALL full.

2) traffic starts, and then stops. then it starts again but then (oh no) it stops.

3) it takes 2.5 hours to cover 10 kms. you do the math.

4) the conductor wants to push towards the front of the bus after every single stop.

5) If you don't have the exact money for the fare, you will rarely if ever get back change.


Some pros:

1) people hold conversations around you and you are free to eavesdrop. nobody cares.

2) there's a separate women's section and men's section in the bus. so no gropers/eve-teasers/pinchers will be entertained.

3) women who are sitting will offer to hold your heavy bags. which is super nice of them.

4) the weather is awesome, so you are not stinky and sweating by the end of your commute

2 comments:

  1. 2.5 hours have now increased to 3.

    Also,

    The first thing someone hits when someone enters a new city is the road. And since Bangalore was made, probably for retired people, it has roads as wide as the walkway in a garden. They took the name Garden City too literally I guess. Bangalore acts being fast paced but it is stuck in traffic jam. One wants to reach a place before time and it drains all your energy out till you reach the point. First thing to do when you come to this city, remove the word punctual from your CV. Drivers here are so insecure and rash, same as Hyderabad, as if they want to reach home quickly to check whether their wives are sleeping with neighbours or not. What they don’t realize is that even the neighbour is stuck in a traffic jam.

    The buses here are the best maintained buses in whole of India. The revenue earned by the Government has been put to brilliant use in BMTC. Wigs off along with scalp for that. I absolutely love the reach of the bus service. They have taken full care of the pocket of people and for those who can spend slightly higher, awesome Volvo buses are at your service. With a maximum of Rs. 50, one can glide to any part of Bangalore in the Red Shiny Volvo buses with cool wind gushing inside your clothes. Even the normal buses are kept tip-top for the masses. Like every dead dog on Indian highway has an opinion about Cricket in India, similarly everyone in Bangalore has an opinion about Traffic Condition here. And since Bus stops are strategically located just near turns, and just after flyovers, Buses feel proud to be the part of the jam. Who doesn’t want to do a jig in the jam?

    Though it is a tragedy that the bus service virtually goes off after 9 PM. Why Sir? Don’t people travel after 9? Only few major places have buses running after 9. If you are stuck till late, you have to resort to Auto Rickshaws. Heh, Auto rickshaw drivers. If someone has problems of High Blood pressure, I would request not to ask anything from Auto Drivers. They suck. Suck and swallow. Shit and suck and swallow.

    Phew.

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow, Abhinav! thats was quite a well-thought out comment :)
    I did not know that the buses shut down after 9! I shall follow the curfew now..
    The buses may be good, but this is simply not enough! For instance: to cover a distance of around 15 kms on an entirely straight road, I have to change 3 buses. I take the bus every.single.day. and guess how painful it gets :)
    Surprisingly, i have never had a problem with autos, except once(and i take autos everyday too.) maybe it helps that i don't look 'IT' and work in the heart of the city

    ReplyDelete