A Morning Bus Ride...in Chennai....!

A morning bus ride......in Chennai..!

It is good to have a morning bus ride or a morning walk any where in the world. But the same in Chennai is special for me as I rarely do it. This was a morning after a nice rain and it was cool but the sun as the Chennai sun is always, came up bright and warm in the early seven o' clock itself. As every body comes out early, sun also come out early. The problem was there was not a single or tree or plant at the bus stop to take a shade for a while when we waited at the bus stop.

I kept on anxiously looking at the on coming buses and other vehicles coming from the south from the bus station called Kelambakkam and a bus came which was going in my required direction but won't reach my destination. It was marked for Koimbedu another location. So I left looking anxiously at the buses and turned to the bus stop instead to watch and judge the people at the stop at that early hour. Most of the waiters were students both school and college who kept on talking to one another with their huge back packs and all. Then there were a few technical wizards who are called 'Techies' these days. There were two politicians (small time politicians) both in sparkling white dress with one having a very large moustache and the other normal. Both had a couple of pen in their pockets, some papers folded and a little colourful comb jutting out of the pocket from behind the papers it was holding. One of the politician had a white towel with a border on either side, on his shoulder.

Many among all these people spoke on their mobile android phones from time to time. The Techies led the lot in this and I also kept picking up my phone and putting it back from time to time to console myself. Thought of making a call to some one to show every body that I have it, but decided otherwise, for fear of losing the battery charge. I had a journey to have and a time consuming wait (it may or may not be according to the condition at the dispensary where I was going to get my monthly medicines). A couple of times I pulled it out and looked at the time. (These days I look at the time clock in the android and conveniently forget my wristwatch whenever possible. Sometimes, I have the watch but won't look at it as it is inside my shirt cuff and by looking at my android I can see the time, show everybody I have it and then don't have to use it).

While at all these I see the bus coming and I get in at the back side after the while dressed politicians, as the front side is used by all the youngsters and students. While the early entrants got a couple of seats I was not getting one and I enjoyed standing near the conductor seat at the back entrance looking through the clean back glasses at the oncoming vehicles and other buses. This is a good posture as it allows a good view to both sides. In a minute a new idea came to me that the conductor himself is not there and his seat is vacant and why not occupy it. And I did. This is a welcome relief for a little while as the conductor will come sooner or later as he will be scrambling among the customers o collect the fares. I saw him from the corner of my eye at the front, looking at a small ticket disburser and cutting tickets to various new entrants and forgot him for the time being.

I relaxed in my gracious seat and looked both to the front and back as this conductor seat gave a general view to either side of the bus to survey all the travelers. But all the same, the conductor, well trained at his work, will not sit until he has disbursed tickets to all those who are travelling.

The morning sun shined on the right side of the bus and the seat I had was on the left. Again a plus at that. I thought of writing about it and then..Lo..the conductor appears in front of me asking me to come out of the seat which I did..without a second thought. He said my fare and I gave the money and he brought up his ticketing machine and punched the fare and pulled the paper receipt or bus ticket as it is called and gave it to me and sat down. My enjoyment here was over as more people were entering and I had to move forward. On going forward I saw a few people sleeping in their seats as if they may sleep the whole day. It did not seem if they are going anywhere at all, but for their dress up and bags. Some how it was a hurt to those who are standing.

Suddenly a man got up two seats ahead of me and two people tried to scramble in. I couldn't have made it as I was two seats away. Only those who are immediately near the seat can make it. But neither of them could make it as the man next to him at the window moved to the isle seat which was vacated and called for his friend, three seats behind! I was an onlooker in the whole drama. The friend sent a little boy of ten to occupy the seat and sent another boy of nine to sit in his lap. The seat well utilised. I was happy for no apparent reason. The sun was climbing up and I was slowly wearing out. Now I can look both ways but can't see much as more people have come in as the bus was reaching 'Sholi' ! Sholi is for short, the real name is Sholinganallur which is a major four cross with a long long red light. Earlier the red light stops during the mornings in peak hours used to take half an hour to forty five minutes, but now after a few traffic rearrangements it took only ten minutes and we could pass the red light and come to the Kandanchavadi Toll booth stop where more people and a large number of school girls and boys got in. They all were carrying their huge back packs and talking happily to each other. Some girls had jasmine lines well tied to their hair which filled the bus with its aroma.

After the Kandanchavadi stop, I got my seat and was happy to be seated after a half an hours standing. The driver pulled the huge gear lever from time to time as the bus had to weave its way in the huge number of vehicles which had all sorts of vehicles, from bicycles and motor cycles (which were the maximum, next to cars). There were also huge lorries with water tanks, goods carriage minivans and all sorts of cars jostling with one another all the way and the bus driver a patient youngster pulled his lever and managed his way on his extreme left side of the wide road.

The vehicle took a driving test passing through the narrow channel of the toll booth and came out to see the overhead metro going with passengers and after the metro came to a right turn where the light was green but was full of all other vehicles jostling for space. Again the driver did his stick work and moved the bus among all the other vehicles and came to 'Jayanthi Cinema' (which is my stop to get down even though I have never seen any cinema in such a hall or a hall with another name which is there). I got up to the ultimate relief of the person standing on my shoulder and slowly made my way to the front entrance and got down. The outside was busy but was cool and crispy after the overnight rains. That was a cool journey by any means without any extreme waits anywhere in the morning!