Peanuts from Dadar and the bus ride

Peanuts from Dadar and the bus ride


Having procured peanuts from Dadar station the other day, it reminded me of the long journey i had undertaken since morning. It was the bus heading towards Nashik that gave me the comfort that i could break my journey and proceed towards Mumbai later. The Nashik bus ride wasn't bad except for the driver oldish in shape but driving at a breakneck speed. It was quarter to 11 in the morning when i boarded the bus and there was something amiss as conductor had a huge problem with my luggage reminding me of how weighty the bus had become thanks to my weighty shape and the luggage weight.

Post ticket delivery i shifted to the front seat with a request to the driver that the overbearing luggage can be accommodated in the vicinity of the front seat. He was ok with this but what was not ok was the way he was driving. At full force and with nothing to fear. On occasions he went past people on road and small vehicles that were plying withing their limits. His bus almost had a near miss with most of them. I just kept my eyes on the road and hoped nothing untoward happened.
It did not take long for him to have more than the desired brush and that too with a dog. The bus was speeding and there was a dog sitting not in the middle of the road but on a stretch close to the road. There was ample space for the driver to do manoeuvring. But as the bus neared the dog, he kept the movement straight and did not care to occupy more road space and bring it in the middle. And the rear portion of the bus hit the dog and there was a huge thud and what followed was inexplicable. The driver looked at the mirror and kept driving. i had known by then that the dog had been hit by the force of the bus and the rear hit would have made him succumb.

The bus kept moving and there was nothing one could do about. But that oldish driver could have easily spared the dog had he been a bit careful. At Sinnar bus station, the driver was replaced but the damage had been done. The best course would be to put this driver and others who engage in reckless driving on time duty and take them away from driving schedule. But who would look into these issues? Hope better sense prevails

Having reached Nashik, the bus ride showed the urgency to go for a strong cuppa which post persuasive efforts i was able to manage. The bus ride from Nashik to Mumbai was not that bad and there were fewer halts. At the Kurla CST Flyover the bus driver thundered "Sampooran Jam". But the Jam disappeared sooner than expected and later i reached PrabhaDevi Road on time. The taxi ride from Dadar to Prabha Devi Road gave me the opportunity to get into a new fabric and the one pyjama which i was sporting for two days - this pyjama, procured from Esplanade, Kolkata, served as a pant with effortless ease - was left inadvertently in the taxi. This folly was realised when i was 500kms away from Mumbai.

The taxi ride from Prabha Devi Road to Mumbai Central took time given the long traffic trail. Still it was comfortable but not comfortable to the point when i was told to shell out Rs 90 for a ride from Prabha DEvi Road to Mumbai Central. The charge steep and by then i had realised the folly of not taking the bus. It was in Mumbai Central that the man manning the counter posting updates on ticket status brought forth the misery of travelling on a waiting ticket and thundered" Phek Dega TTE train ke bahar. Ticket Cancel kar lo"
I went to main reservation counter to cancel the same but was told to not do so by other passengers. One said: "Yeh train TTE ke baap ki nahi hain. Yeh Govt of India ki Train Hai". They advised me to try my luck as there could be cancellations at the last moment. Further there was at least this consolation that i can travel in Sleeper Class as the ticket was for AC Coach. When the train began to move there was a big group on board. And here TTE told me that it is up to me to make adjustments with the group. Though rescue was not possible and even my pleading to a nearby passenger who had RAC status to let me sit on the side of the seat he had positioned for sleep fell on deaf years. Later well past 12 the TTE gave me the upper berth on another coach and i was saved from the inevitability of hopping from one coach to another the entire night.
And the train ride was still the best option as the buswallahs outside the Mumbai Central were frank enough to set a 12-hour schedule. Post Mumbai Central the first halt was in Dadar where packets of peanuts were tried with the comfort that i would reach my destination without being made to deboard.