Joys of riding in a company bus

The reason why I started coming in the COMPANY bus was rather simple.

I was getting too tired of driving at the end of a long day. The tension and the traffic, were too much to deal with, towards the end of the day.

The use of local trains or buses was ruled out promptly, as I do not fancy myself as a Sardine.

Really, the inhumanity in the trains and buses is pathetic. This is what we have reduced ourselves to, after so much of evolution – nature’s last word, indeed. It actually hurts one’s human pride every time you ride in one of these contraptions – PETA would have cried foul if you tried to pack so many animals into such a tight space!! And yet, we Mumbaikars proudly subject ourselves to this inhumanity every day.

Autos meant inhaling direct exhaust from the trucks and buses, and your eyes burn and your hair get dusty. Plus, i am kind of chicken when it comes to riding an auto.

So the company bus was the only remaining choice. Once I started riding the company bus, I slowly started realizing the joys of riding a decent public transport (BEST is not a decent means of transport)!


1. By using the COMPANY bus, the direct pains of driving are all gone.
2. The economies of going by the COMPANY bus alone would be reason enough to start using the bus. I was spending close to Rs. 6,000 a month while commuting by the car. Coming by the bus, I save Rs. 5,000 monthly !!
3. The timing is a lot more stabilized when I use the bus. I can be more disciplined in my hours. There would always be exceptions, but that can be handled rather easily using autos or even BEST bus.
4. I am now getting back in touch with nature, which is rather gratifying and soothing.

- I am able to observe the greenery that I was hitherto unaware of / that I had forgotten existed. The lush green view of the Aarey Milk colony from the Aarey flyover is something to be experienced. The greens appeal to something very basic in our nature. I think ever since we trapped ourselves in our concrete cages – which we call apartments, our hearts have craved all the more to go back to the greens. So it’s tantalizing and satisfying all at once, this sojourn with nature - almost like the meeting of long lost lovers.
- Once you come to the JVLR, there is a stretch where you can see the greens once again – complete with a mountain in the distance.
- Next, once you hit Powai, you observe Powai lake in all its glamour – again, beset by hills along the edges of the lake. You can actually see the lake longer than expected, and there are several nice palm trees lining the lakeshore.
5. I get more time to read – newspapers, fiction, non-fiction(business) books. I was able to go thru several papers (I read only selective articles) - the Economic Times, The Hindustan Times, and Mumbai Mirror in the 1-hour journey.

Who are you voting for?

Long time no post.

Anyway, I was at Metropark Station for the 7:23, and huffing and puffing up the stairs. At the landing, there was this guy handing out pamphlets for a local candidate, and saying, "Don't forget to vote". Well, i could have told him that i am here on a visa, and not one of the electorate, really...

But i've been following the presidential debate, all the brouhaha around it with a diligence that many of the voters would envy. It's almost like you can't help getting pulled into it. Of all the discussions / opinions, a couple of things that i "heard", that creates the strongest impression were:

- In the polling booth, it is going to matter to the individual, what color the candidate is
- Man, Palin as a possible president is scary
- There is a whole bunch of people who would have voted for Hillary, and are not sure if they want to go with Obama
- from the debates, Obama of course comes across as the "bigger" guy

Mumbai Police - Where should you go?

I just read another news article about how a man had to go to 3 police stations before a case was registered! Ye hai India meri Jaan!

It is stupid, it is insane.

A man should be allowed to lodge a complaint at any police station – and the police should sort it out internally within 1 hour, who is responsible to get cracking. Or, be given Carte Blanche re jurisdiction. They should, in any case, be held responsible for the case registered at their Police Station. Period. And there should be an escalation mechanism. If appropriate responses are not received, one should be able to move to a higher authority.

Now let's come to horrible rule #2. Unless an FIR is lodged, a grievous injury may not be treated by a doctor at a hospital!!! Now this has to take the cake. This goes beyond insane - to inhuman.
Doctors should be allowed to treat patients – and call the police station, or fill up paperwork later. I mean, what earth-shaking would happen if the injury is NOT reported?

How is that dress?

My wife bought a yellow dress from the mall yesterday. Before we got to the payment counter, she asked me like, n times, "Is it good?" I was kind of getting tired of answering the same question, asked in different verbiage.

So anyway, we get to the line, and there is this stern-looking female standing alongside us.
She eyeballed the dress, and her stern look developed into a frown! Where DID you find that?
My wife, slightly taken aback, at the sudden question and the stern look, took a moment before she replied. "Second floor", she said, and then went on to explain the exact location.

"Are there any more?" The stern one asked, her expression now mellowing a little.

"Um, yes, I guess. But not this size", my wife replied.

Without any more backchat, much less thanks, the female rushed off to the second floor.

Now, my wife was truly beaming. It was a nice dress, after all!!!

Are you really sorry? Or just saying it?

While at the Mall yesterday, as the queues at the payment counter grew longer, patience was running thin even as people in adjacent lines jostled into each other unknowingly.

A swelte woman, clad in skin-tight jeans, turning sharply away from the counter, rammed her elbow into the solar plexus of a well-dressed gentleman standing in the adjacent line.

She said "I'm Sorry".

Gracious, isn't it? Far from it. While her mouth said sorry, her eyes flashed, and her countenance seemed to proclaim, "Get out of my Fxxxxxg way - couldn't you have moved out in time, you moron?" I couldn't believe her. Why would someone be so angry on hitting someone else??? And I've NEVER seen such scorn paraded around in a public place for no reason!

To add sorry to that weird, unapologetic, truculent attitude, it was an insult to "sorry"!!!

I'd say it's better to save such sorries than make such a pathetic show.

You are in a queue (..and we're not apologizing)

My wife and I went to a mall today. She wanted to get a good sandal. My agenda was to get her to buy a nice outfit for herself. I could have bought it myself and surprised her, but more than the surprise, I wanted her to have what she really wanted. I'm not in with the latest buzz in ladies' wear, so...

Anyway, she chose this pale yellow dress which she tried on and had her heart set on. She decided to buy it.

Would you believe it - after standing at the payment counter for about 15 minutes, the man behind the counter said to us all, "it's going to take a long time, so could you please make the payments at the 2nd floor?"

So we went to the 2nd floor, which already had a longer line than the 1st floor!!!

The Salesman, with no apology in his eyes or manner, said, to the person in front of me, "could you go to the ground floor counter?" Notice how the "Please" is so conspicuously absent from this sentence. Muttering to myself, we moved to the ground floor. Finally, after about 10 minutes' wait, we were able to buy the dress. Phew!

Taught me to go to a mall on Sunday!!!

Crawford Market - keep your eyes (and nose) open!!

We went to Crawford market in the Fort area in Mumbai today.
I hadn't really planned on buying anything - we were just moving around the place, looking at the various shops, which seemed to carry the same set of merchandise.

Anyway, we came to this Perfume seller, who had all descriptions of deodorants and stuff.

"What would you like sir? Deo? Soap? Perfume?", the man asked eagerly.

I ventured closer to his wares, and spotted Nivea Deo amongst those present.

"'ll take a Nivea deo" I said.
"A full box?" he queried.
"No, I'll just take one. "
"The box is for Rs. 540/- only. Six-pack! You'd save 60 rupees. "
"No, I'll take just one", I continued.
So I bought one for Rs. 100/-
As we drove away from Crawford market, I sprayed the stuff on my hand.
Smelled alright.
Ten minutes later, the smell was barely perceptible.

Anyway, arriving home about an hour later, there were no signs of my having sprayed anything on my hand. The damn thing was a fake.

My brother later told me that Crawford market was famous for its fakes!!! And people bought the fake stuff knowing it's fake, for a much lower price!!

Well, I remembered having heard this one before, and wished I'd thought of that before I bought the dud bottle!!!

Rainy Shoes, or plain embarassment?

The rains bring on another problem. You can no longer wear your natty leather shoes.

So, I started off by buying myself a pair of rubber-soled shoes. I was happy when it finally rained in Mumbai. I got my chance to use my new shoes.

Arriving at office, I was stunned that I had stepped on a rat.

I mean, the squeak of agony that emanated from under my feet sounded like a rat stepped on than anything else. However, progressive steps proved that my new shoes were the proud sponsors of the above sound. It was embarrassing, to say the least. I mean, I have seen squeaky shoes for kids that are supposed to make a sound, but this one was making enough sound for 10 of them!

I immediately got myself a pair of plastic soled ones. They don't squeak ; they just sound like horse's hooves.

Now I bring delight to the mundane life of the chaps and chapettes in the office by doing an excellent likeness of clippety-clap, horse-trot every time I walk.

BEST Bus and Rains

A few days back, (probably miffed by the weatherman's preditiction, that "it would rain less than usual" this year) the monsoons in Mumbai seem to have moved in for a 24X7 battering.
Wearing water appears to be in fashion these days in Mumbai. You wear a little of it, or more of it, depending on the cussedness of your luck. Not surprisingly, the insides of BEST bus cannot guarantee to keep you dry.

“No, Pullll-ease do not eye this seat, Phullease”, I chanted to myself, even as the apparition drew near. But to no avail. This guy came and sat beside me. Well, squelched beside me would be mot juste. While in Std. V or thereabouts, I’d read that human body is 70% water. This human body was about 90%. Correction. 99%. I cringed as much as I could, but I couldn’t cringe my way out of getting a second-hand wetting. Chamanlal said I must've been hit by a sideways cloudburst, though (he said) he couldn't claim to have ever seen/experienced/heard of, one.

In case you are wondering, BEST is an acronym for BrihanMumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking.