What all can happen in Indian Public Buses ??

This happened all in one day. It’s very interesting to feel this way but now I feel like a true Indian.

Well as you people know that I stay in Bangalore .This is about my various encounters with the BMTC, the public bus transport in Bangalore.

It all the started normally. In the morning we, meaning my mom and I, had planned to go to my newly constructed house .We got in the bus from a stop the bus makes near our house .We reached the main Banashankari Depot from where we had to catch a bus to Marathahalli. We saw a bus filled with people but no driver. With the hope that the driver would arrive in a few minutes, we entered the bus. We waited and waited .During this time we saw beggars asking for money and some charity people coming up to people and asking them for money. Like the usual Indian style. Just after all the money lending menace was over , we saw a bus just starting up to go to the same place we wanted to go .So we did what every common person would have done, hop out of the bus we were sitting in and jump into the bus which was in the background right now. Getting in the bus, we sat on our seat. The bus was filled with people but it wasn't that full. Well after going for about 20 minutes, we reached a traffic jam at "Silk Board”. It was always expected at that place .The bus since then was moving slower than a tortoise .It was like stop for a minute and move for 15 seconds. So the stop and start wasn't allowing me to sleep also. So what I suggested to my mom was to walk till the place where most of Marathahalli bus comes and catch a different bus from there. But by now, my mom didn’t want to get up and was arrogant on not leaving. By this moment, the jam was almost over and we had crossed it by bus only. The bus from there onwards was going slow but it was better than the tortoise walk . Reaching Marathahalli we took another bus to the stop near our construction place. My mom stopped on a stop and I got down at the next stop .This was just a experiment to check whether the distance was same from both the stops.

No problem up till now. We then went to the construction site and did the necessary jobs.

After that, I had to go for my computer classes and mom had to go home. I could have left my mom back but I went with her to the place where she could catch a bus to home. She left for the bus and I took a bus to a place called Domblur . Getting in the bus to Domblur was difficult because there were only a few going that direction. Well after getting in the bus and reaching the destination, I had to walk to another place. Up till now I hadn't eaten much but my stomach was controlling my hunger.

Waiting for a Bus to Indra Nagar (where my classes were held) was an irritating. It was lunch time .All busses were coming there and stopping without continuing to go forward . This was their last stop. I was waiting and waiting, killing flies. I just got irritated by the busses and their drivers. I asked one of the conductors when's the next bus to Indra Nagar , he told me that there wasn't any specific timings and every bus leaving for that place was surly going to Indra Nagar . So my task was cut out for me. It was just to find a god damn bus that was going in that direction. Several busses came in and stopped there .None going forward because it was their relieving time that time. Waiting for about half an hour, a bus suddenly decided to move. Everyone rushed like a bull stampede to the bus. I got in the bus and luckily I was quick enough to get a seat. The bus took again another five minutes to start, but I was glad it started, becuase I was already late for my class and I dint want to be even later.

As I was new to Indra Nagar, I was confused to where to get down. I asked a few people and they guided me pretty well .I must thank them a lot because for one reason is that it got me to the correct place and leaving that , its very hard to find people telling the right directions. After getting down at that stop, I saw a shop selling pens and I wanted one. I went to buy and then I saw a restaurant. I couldn’t control my hunger and got a plate of Pori Kurma to eat for so called lunch .After doing so, I got into my senses and started running to my classes. That day the teacher told me to practice the practical stuff, so I was lucky not to miss any important lessons .After class I went back the way I came to the place. Getting to the bus stop was a little madness but a it was okay because I walked so much for a day and was tired of walking more.

After reaching this stop, I asked some one how to get to Banashankari because I wanted to go home .The guy told me that just now a bus went and he didn’t know when the next one would come.
As I normally do, I waited. I waited and waited and the crowd me became more and more .Suddenly a bus comes. But it isn’t the bus I wanted .A few of the buses passed me but I either wanted to go the way I wanted to go. Suddenly a bus appears out of no where and it’s the bus I wanted to get in. The crowd which grew more and more went into this bus. The bus suddenly started its engines and I got sacred and held one of the stands. Hanging my way for sometime like that, I was in a way trilled by the experience. But after a few moments I got pulled myself in the bus. I got a place to stand and made myself comfortable with the bus still filled with people and searching each other up. I survived until the crowd decreased and luckily I snatched a seat from a guy and sat there comfortably. The whole part of this trip was like the best. The bus was filled with people and some were standing also. I felt caring for some of them but then though t to myself that if I have to survive I have to do what’s right for me and not for others. Playing games on my mobile and listening to songs were mostly what I did the whole time until I overheard two people talking about cartoons and in what software they were made. I was curios about what they were talking about interfered. I asked them whether they were animators’ and luckily I guessed right. We talked about some stuff like what they had done and what they were for. They had done selective study and selected their subject by themselves and now they were working for logx as web designers. By the time I had reached banashankari and then one of them, Nagaraj , gave me his number . I thanked them for the information and then stared searching for my bus.

Again as usual I waited and waited for the bus and again as usual there was a huge crowd. The busses never came on time and I went to search for them at different places. My efforts went to vain but when I returned there was a bus which would stop near my current house. The crowd was less at the ground but i found out that hey were transferred to the bus I was in. Again the same situation except this time I was royally crushed and on top of that the conductor moving up and down collecting ticket was walking on my poor foot. I couldn’t see where we were and I thought I would get lost at that moment. The crowd started to decrease and I found out that the next stop was where i had to get down. And so I did .Getting down on the right moment and went directly into my house drank fresh good water and did my daily routines.

After today I know how tough it is going around big cities around crowded bunch of people and of course not being picking pocketed. Today for me surviving in the bus was like survival of the fittest. I will so always remember this day even though its not because of any special occasion .Its just because of the first time this has happened.