Commuting On Fast Lane

Hi! We were hailed as red hot beauties when we hit the narrow, potholed roads of Bangalore, teeming with two wheelers and cars. Our sleek low floor design and glassy exterior was a major head turner and many used to gawk at us when our automatic doors used to open and shut with precision at bus stops.

Being used to slow moving and rickety Pushpaks, whose seats are cruder versions of massage chairs, the commuters found us refreshingly fast and futuristic. But our fares - 'ouch', they seemed prohibitive. But later on they were lowered and minimum fare was pegged at Rs 10. This pushed up occupancy and collection.

The patrons started marvelling at the plush seats, air conditioned comfort, electronic display, the public address and FM radio inside the bus.

Many even felt pleasantly surprised that these buses actually had conductors and that too women in many cases. Many of namma city buses have drivers doubling up as conductors. And they spend precious time collecting fares and rummaging the bag for loose change and arguing with passengers. For drivers in Volvo buses there was an added bonus - they no longer had to contend with cumbersome walking stick like gears.

Slowly and steadily the word got around that these upmarket buses were not as expensive as perceived. My peers, who were plying on routes such as ITPL and Electronic City started witnessing a jump in occupancy. During the peak hours the buses on these routes will be full of laptop wielding IT crowd with i-pods plugged to their ears and access cards dangling around their necks.

Though these buses were well received by commuters, their main grouse was that it was not very comfortable for those standing, especially if they happened to be short. Those sudden lunges, induced by the brakes, would often make them wish they were a few inches taller! However I wish to clarify that for those lunges we are not at fault. Our drivers apply our high tech brakes the same way as they used to do with Tata and Ashok Leyland buses.They step on them as if they were trampling a cockroach under their foot.

However, with passage of time the all-pervasive corrosive influence of BMTC have finally caught up with Volvo buses too. Often some of us belch out smoke in no small measure than our desi counterparts, crying for some urgent engine tuning. In some buses the overhanging stirrups meant for the standing passengers either badly need replacement or are missing. In some buses the automatic doors open and shut with a squeal, which almost sound like 'greeease pleease'.

Probably the worst hit is the hi-tech rear view camera display. It enjoyed a pride of place near the driver's seat and commuters used to look at it in wide-eyed excitement as the tiny display screen used to show vehicles in the rear. However, nowadays in most buses it has become dysfunctional and the display screen has been reduced to an empty plastic frame and sometimes even photos of various Hindu deities adorn them. The public address seems to have become a thing of past, though not many seem to be missing it.

When we were introduced in Bangalore, there was not much publicity. In fact, we got eclipsed under shadow of hype over namma metro, and were dubbed as elitist in early days. However, we still succeeded to a good extent in redefining the way Bangaloreans commute. At least we have provided a decent alternative to those travelling on arterial roads.

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Morning Walk Vignettes

The shifting of airport to Devanahalli has freed the approach roads to the HAL Airport from eternal traffic snarls and honkings, and it now resembles one of those sleepy boulevards that Bangalore was once famous for. However, it somehow has not caught the fancy of morning walkers in the area. Probably the stigma of those horrific traffic jams still remains.

I once chanced to come upon this stretch and decided to abandon other trails. The road at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine end and the other one which has the Blue Dart office present a chalk and cheese contrast. The former is well maintained while the latter is unkempt with garbage strewn on the footpath and taxis and lorries parked on both ends. There are even some makeshift eateries and their wafting sambhar smell often aggravates my hunger pangs.

As for the walkers, barring few guys most seem to be the strolling types and are more engrossed with their cell phone, iPods or in conversation with the walking partner.

In most instances it is the husband and wife team and I guess burning calories is the last thing in their minds when they put on the walking shoes. Probably they were following some doctor’s advice with much reluctance. There is one bespectacled guy, mostly in blue t-shirt, who comes solo and seems to be doing what may best be described as a Tai Chi version of jogging.  

There is another guy – a six foot plus, who probably is in the police force or the army. He does some real brisk walking and I must confess I am no match to his pace. A couple of times I did try to catch up with him but his lanky strides were too much for me.

There is one middle aged couple who are quite regular; the man is tall and gaunt with pepper and salt hair, with more of latter. They are serious walkers and do it quite briskly. They seem to be a friendly lot and often nod at me and I nod back out of politeness, all the while wondering who the Dickens they are.

I do come across some women walking their dogs. A middle aged woman with a Dachshund seems to be a regular and sometimes I do see a young woman with a Golden Retriever. The women with Dash often tosses biscuits to stray dogs and even pats them. Probably this is her way of buying peace to prevent her diminutive Dash from becoming their mince meat.

The road is lined with trees and some of them do provide a visual treat when they flower.  The road and the footpath often gets ‘carpeted’ by leaves and flowers, but they don’t remain so for long as the civic workers diligently sweep them away.

Among civic workers I often come across a husband and wife team with their toddler son in tow. Often they take turns to keep an eye on him as they move on with the job of clearing leaves and other wastes.

The trees are abuzz with various birds, mainly crows, and squirrels. One day I happened to come across a squirrel tail on the road, wondering how it got cut asunder. For this gentle looking animal it must have been really painful.

At the erstwhile car park of the airport compound what struck my attention was a Contessa car. I have been seeing it parked ever for too long. Most probably the owner just abandoned the vehicle for a sleeker and less fuel guzzling sedan. He may not have found a buyer or even the scrap guys refused to take it. This rusting jalopy stands in contrast to more contemporary cars parked there.

This luxury offering from the Hindustan Motors’ stable was quite a rage in the late 80s and early 90s, when it had a competition-free ride. Now sighting a Contessa on the road is as rare as sighting a sparrow in our cities.

However, quite recently, to my surprise, I saw the car had disappeared from the parking lot. Often wonder what happened - probably it caught the fancy of some scrap dealer or maybe, at the risk of sounding too optimistic, the owner thought it is worth a makeover.

Apart from the rains, the only spoiler to my morning walks is the 'VIP movement'. Though the aam janta has to trudge all the way to Devanahalli to catch a flight, the netas still use this airport to fly to Delhi. On these days the road at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine end gets cordoned off and police men land up in droves. These stoppages become all the more frequent when there is some political uncertainty in the state and these VIP trips to and from Delhi become all the more frequent.

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