One thing everyone would agree with me is hating to stand in a bus with no movement whatsoever for pretty long time because of the traffic ahead. I am habituated to long snarls of traffic from my office to Ghatkopar station. I have even tried walking from Hilton Mumbai International Airport(My office) to Ghatkopar station in flat 55 minutes with innumerable stoppages because of traffic signals, idiotic people on road who have no road sense after finding that my evening commute to either Ghatkopar, Vidyavihar or Kurla by the famed BEST buses took more than 60 minutes and in the worst case even 100 minutes.
Knowing that my brisk walking skills werent put to test since months now, I decided to give it a try a few days back and the results were exciting with an overall 55 minutes to Ghatkopar. I am sure that I can bring that down to 45 -50 minutes. The only day, I covered this distance in 30 minutes by bus was on 26th January on all other days, its been the same. In mornings, it takes about 35-40 minutes from Vidyavihar station where I get a comfortable seat by the window.
My commutes have a twist of long bus journeys and shorter train journeys.The travel from hotel to Vidyavihar is actually a 20 min ride if done at normal speed in early mornings, but for the rest of the day, it takes nothing short of an hour. If you are standing for that long in a bumper to bumper traffic in a BEST bus, you dont need to exercise to stay fit. All parts of the body are jolted, massaged and heckled in all possible ways. Today my story is not about it though.Today its about securing a senior citizen seat for yourself and not being asked to vacate the same. I got into the bus, bought a ticket and moved ahead to the front seats. Its futile standing towards the right side as half the seats are earmarked for ladies. Chances of getting a seat are nil as there are many women vying for it unless you wanna be embarrased to be asked to vacate it.
Yes, there are a few who like to brush shoulders with them. But thats the last thing on mind when you are struggling for space in a crowded bus. I was standing towards the left side where we have the reserved senior and handicapped seats. Looking at the profile of the people sitting in them, none of them qualified to do so. I thought, I was marked for the day and eventually the whole journey was gonna be standing. But suddenly a person got up at the very next stop. I decided to sit. But I knew this was going to be shortlived as at the next stop, 'Sahar Airport' some oldies might get in and demand seats.
Knowing that my brisk walking skills werent put to test since months now, I decided to give it a try a few days back and the results were exciting with an overall 55 minutes to Ghatkopar. I am sure that I can bring that down to 45 -50 minutes. The only day, I covered this distance in 30 minutes by bus was on 26th January on all other days, its been the same. In mornings, it takes about 35-40 minutes from Vidyavihar station where I get a comfortable seat by the window.
My commutes have a twist of long bus journeys and shorter train journeys.The travel from hotel to Vidyavihar is actually a 20 min ride if done at normal speed in early mornings, but for the rest of the day, it takes nothing short of an hour. If you are standing for that long in a bumper to bumper traffic in a BEST bus, you dont need to exercise to stay fit. All parts of the body are jolted, massaged and heckled in all possible ways. Today my story is not about it though.Today its about securing a senior citizen seat for yourself and not being asked to vacate the same. I got into the bus, bought a ticket and moved ahead to the front seats. Its futile standing towards the right side as half the seats are earmarked for ladies. Chances of getting a seat are nil as there are many women vying for it unless you wanna be embarrased to be asked to vacate it.
Yes, there are a few who like to brush shoulders with them. But thats the last thing on mind when you are struggling for space in a crowded bus. I was standing towards the left side where we have the reserved senior and handicapped seats. Looking at the profile of the people sitting in them, none of them qualified to do so. I thought, I was marked for the day and eventually the whole journey was gonna be standing. But suddenly a person got up at the very next stop. I decided to sit. But I knew this was going to be shortlived as at the next stop, 'Sahar Airport' some oldies might get in and demand seats.
Luckily I saw a 4-5 yr old boy standing behind my seat. I pulled that guy and made way for him to sit on my lap, with my bag on one leg. Bag looks very big, though I am hardly carrying anything. For a person looking at me, it was as if I was holding the child and bag, so nobody would dare ask to vacate. At the next stop, a few oldies in 55-60 age bracket got in and demanded seats of all those sitting in the front row. They empathised and never even bothered to ask me. I tried to show my willingness to get up, but one of them said, “nahi nahi, you are actually holding onto the kid, be seated”. I must mention one thing here, the kid was a gem, he did not utter a word and sat as if I was his uncle, no discomfort and we chatted the whole journey...hehehe
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