March 14, 2012

Red Bus mattu (and) Rash Driving



Bangalore is filled with compressed-air powered red buses. I love these buses. Unlike the old blue buses, these red buses look a lot like Volvo and yet they are “common-man“ friendly and hold a lot of space inside the bus for travelers to stand comfortably during rush hour. But not all of these buses get good bus drivers. I've had near fall out experiences once or twice while I was travelling in one of these huge buses.

Compressed air-power buses have a lot of power in terms of speed as well as brakes. Sudden braking makes the bus going at any speed to come to a halt within seconds. But the full impact of it is shown inside the bus. Passengers sitting don’t have to endure much problem. But the one’s standing gets its full impact.

I was lucky the other day. I was standing near the pole. Both my hands were busy holding my wallet and in the process of taking out money to pay the bus conductor. Suddenly the driver hit the brake and the bus moving at 80, came to a sudden halt. My whole body was thrown forward but my sudden instincts directed my hands to hold fast the pole and with a backward twist, I got the required support and saved myself from falling down head first on the floor. I was so angry at the driver, but since I hadn’t fallen I didn’t feel the need to go and start a boring quarrel with him. Minutes later I got the seat and I happily settled down with ear phones and music. My friend, who was sitting behind my seat tapped my shoulder and said loudly with a snigger, “Neha, when did you learn to pole dance? You are pretty good!!” I turned back to retaliate and saw that her words had carried to the men’s section and many guys were nodding in mock approval. “I’ll get you for this girl!!” I growled at her laughing face and turned back to see the driver, who was happily singing and hitting the brakes roughly at unnecessary junctions.

The bus was getting more and more crowded at every stop. All the ladies were standing precariously. Poor women, they had no idea that they had just mounted a bus that was being driven by a moronic driver. And then it happened. Another one of bus driver’s signature “sudden brakes”. Two ladies standing beside my seat toppled onto one another, causing the third lady to fall down on the bus floor. This was followed by loud shrieks and a high pitched quarrel could be heard loud and clear even through the loud music from my ear phones. The ladies were blaming each other for falling. They should scold the driver who is the root cause for causing this catastrophe.  I thought angrily. But I caught the driver, happily waving to a fellow bus driver and totally oblivious to what was happening on the bus behind him. Was he really oblivious or was he showcasing “jaana kividu” (a Kannada phrase which means, “smart deafness”) to the din that was taking place behind him?? I had half a mind to get up and hit him in the head and then smugly apologize  by telling the “brakes” had caused me to “accidently” hit him!!

Thankfully my stop arrived and I was the first to literally jump out of the bus with relief. As I saw the red bus making its way through the narrow crowded road showcasing its power speed and power brakes, I almost felt like I had just gotten off the knight bus from the Harry Potter movie. It happens only in India!!

32 comments:

  1. LOL :) it happens only in India ?
    Hmm you have been to continents it seems :D
    leave it yaar :) take a 7up :D
    cool post.
    pole dance ? :D

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    1. @ Dee, lol well where else can you see a big bus full of standing passengers, falling onto one another every time the bus moves or comes to a halt?? :P

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  2. Well,good luck fighting the inertia.
    It happened to me one time and I wasnt so lucky. I inadvertently grabbed a felow passengers er...umm.."projections". Imagine my embarrasment. Because it was hardly my fault,I was lucky enough to be ignorant of her chappal size or otherwise...I shudder at the thought.
    So,pole dancer may not be so bad,eh?

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    1. @Zach, I'm sorry but I can't help laughing at your embarrassment :P Hope the lady was in a good mood to forgive you!! And ya, its these situations where our "hidden" pole dancing instincts come in handy!! ;)

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  3. Offcourse, It can happen only in India.

    Smart reflexes though. Somethings are just unavoidable. Don't mind such things too much, we won't gain anything and those people wont change either.

    Nice Post.
    Take Care. :)

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    1. @Ajay, ya you are right, we can't change people but we can complain!!
      Thanks :)

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  4. Enjoyed the way you described the incident. This is so true in every Indian metro. Well written, Neha!

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    1. Thanks Subhorup. Din't know this happens even in metro!!

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  5. hmmm... its a nice write.. but.. firstly the red buses are indeed volvo.. and not just something that look like volvos... ofcourse there are other red buses like the TATA Marcopolo buses or the Battery powered eco friendly red buses that come without AC... so you need to make that clear.. and coming to the brakes.. its a common thing in any big city with traffic.. women are just too clumsy.. especially the out of towners :P but yeah.. you got the last right... such things are more common in india :D

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  6. @Harsha, I have no knowledge about different bus names. I'm not a permanent Banglore resident like you to show so much interest on buses :P .. And did you just call me clumsy?? :P ... I ain't clumsy, its the bus drivers who drive the bus so clumsily (they are probably your friends!! :P )

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  7. Interesting bus journey, Neha and beautifully penned:)

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  8. i learnt all my ballet along with its intricate twists, standing on toes (so as not to stamp on people who unfortunately dont reciprocate with that much consideration) from crowded, crazy, jumpy buses!

    so yep,i hear ya girl!

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    1. haha ya I've ruined many of my best slippers by letting them get stamped on!!

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  9. you know u are right abt the bus drivers some of them are relly iresponsble..in delhi we have brt vich gives a seperate lane in the center for buses and a seperate traffic light as well..so when these buses jump their light vich happns on a regular basis it cann really lead to a fatal crash someday..

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    1. Thats really bad, you know its never good when a bus driver starts steering the bus and treating it like a two wheeler!!

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  10. :) I've seen people falling out of the bus breaking the front glass on sudden breaking. I was attending to the injured passengers when one of the passengers came forward, dragged the driver by his collar out of his seat, and then a group bashed him up left and right.

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    1. Well he deserved the bash up, the driver I mean !!

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  11. This was a common sight in Delhi of the Blue Line buses, which were infamous for rash driving and killing people. They dont ply on roads of Delhi anymore,thankfully. Nice post.

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    1. too bad... and good they r not affecting delhi anymore. thanks :)

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  12. hahaha. nice post. never had the fortune to travel in one of those red buses in bangalore. but bus drivers r generally rockstars and i m pretty sure they can go past lewis hamilton.

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  13. There are reckless drivers in Blore, may be those brakes were applied coz there was a pole dancer in the bus ;) :P anyways a good narration!!

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    1. haha thanks and the pole dancing this was just a misconception :P

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  14. Hey I thought you are from Mysore..If you have recently come to Bangalore, then all I can say is welcome to the madness, this is how it is here :D

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    1. hey I'm still a Mysorean, from 3 months I'm travelling to Blore for project work and happen to have this experience recently :) .. yep, the traffic is totally mad out there!!

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  15. Very intteresting! can identify since I live in Bangalore :)

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    1. I'm sure you might have had more colorful experiences than I :)

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  16. Wonderfully described, Neha :) I could so relate to it, it a common occurrence with the Best buses plying in Mumbai too. And unlike its Bangalore counterpart, these are not very good looking too!

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    1. Thanks Arti :) And that's terrible... But can't expect anything else I guess!!

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  17. Ohh...I have had many incidents to relate to it.
    I sometimes wonder whether the driver has got police chasing him for some murder or robbery when he drives like a fugitive on large and sometimes so slow that even a guy on cycle can overtake. :P

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    1. Haha, you said it right Vinay :P ... Don't know what their problem is but they always seem to be in a hurry!!

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