Tuesday, January 4

the bus ride....

Commuting is not exactly my forte. never has been. especially not a commute by public transport daily for an hour and a half two ways. And espcecially not for work ;)

But then this shift from 80 ft rd to the new office has added an entirely new dimension, an entirely new factor to life. Commute is the new buzz word. Bus is the new mantra. Travel is the latest in thing.

Aversion to change is not something ingrained in me. By all standards, I am fairly adaptable and mutable to change, well , not like an e.coli, yet not as stubborn as the dinosaur. Plus, i had somehow romanticized the idea of traveling in the bus.

the bright red bus, with AC spewing cool air on to me, whilst i sit back on the semi rigid plastic chairs looking thru the glass, onto the city go by its daily chores. AAh the optimism of an uninitiated mind!

A week into the dream, and its not just soured, but turned into a terrible nightmare.

Buses aren't all red ;) all don't have Ac. The ones that have, don't always use them. There definitely has been not a single day when i "sat" as much as for a second, leave alone the whole ride. And the city is pretty much inside the bus. Nothing else can explain the crowd inside every single bus. Add to that frustratingly somber and sullen looking, foul mouthed conductors, early morning ready to wipe off any little optimism one wud have for the day ahead.

Like the Tormentors and the Death Eaters from Azkabaan, the bus ride sucks out life form me, evey day as i start another gruelling rush to work and back home.

Still I do look forward to the ride, die hard romantic that I am.

The bus ride still is a window to immense possibilities. People have fallen in love in a bus, people have found new friends in a bus, people have struck deals in a bus, people have broken up shaky ties in a bus.

I aim to do more too, I plan to regain my dream of a bus ride from the clutches of a ruthless inorganic mass of crowd commuting with me daily. I am determined to not bow down to the rigors of a machanical lifestyle, I intend to stop and pause, ponder and wonder, find my way and sometimes wander, as i ride the bus to work each day.

5 comments:

  1. Good one AB. All of a sudden the commute by bus has gained quite a significant importance, mainly due to the office shifting to its new home.

    Most of us have been exchanging tips and discussing the routes to be used these days.

    Funny you should mention the Death Eaters as I have been on a quest to re-read the entire series (7 books). It has been a month and I am reading the "Order of Phoenix" right now.

    Keep posting!

    ReplyDelete
  2. super cool! i love the series :) wish we had brooms to fly on instead of these red buses!

    ReplyDelete
  3. very nice and witty writeup of your experience, i can vividly visualize the horror, the horror, the horror!!! Good one Ameet :) .
    Vishal

    ReplyDelete
  4. If all buses had a Golgappa kiosk with Madhuri Dixit serving the commuters, then poor AB's nightmarish ride will surely turn into a rollicking fantasy ride :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Acorner!! tere mooh main ghee shakkar ;)

    ReplyDelete

Type here.......:)