I’ve been in Pune for over 4 years, but I’ve never travelled
by a local bus, though I intend to very soon. But on the very first day I
landed in Himachal Pradesh, I took a local bus to the Mall road in Shimla to
meet a friend. I was told that local buses are usually crowded in Himachal. And
I hate to travel in crowded public transport. But I was in for a pleasant
surprise. The bus was crowded, but as soon as I boarded, a girl sitting next to
me, offered to hold the bag I was holding, so I could stand steadily as the bus
negotiated the bends and curves which is typical on mountain roads. In the next
5 minutes, a gentleman who was about to get off at the next stop, called me and
offered me his seat. Wow! And when my
stop came and I got down, another gentleman called out to me to caution and inform
that if the cops see the plastic bag I was carrying, I could be fined. He said
plastic bags were banned in Shimla. That was such a thoughtful gesture. He
could have easily ignored and walked away, but he chose to inform me about
this.
The next trip on a local bus was on the second day, early in
the morning at 6.30. This was a longer ride for 4 hours. We had got the last
seat and I was asked to be mentally prepared by several people for the bumpy
ride ahead. Well, the ride was bumpy for sure. The roads were, well, not roads
at all, but more of a dirt track. In some places, it was so bumpy, that we were
flying high on our seats, at every bump. I was told that this ride would leave
me extremely fatigued. But that was not the case. The reason being, instead of tightening
my body and going stiff, in order to not fly and oscillate, I let my body
relax, breathe deep and allowed it fly and oscillate. That really helped, or
else, my back would be borne the brunt of it all on the last seat. So just
relax your body instead of tightening up on bad roads. That’s a tip I
discovered and you may try that as well!
The road being more of a dirt track, there was dust all
over, outside as well as inside the bus, though the glass panes were shut. So
much so that the color of my maroon jacket turned a pale grey!!
The next ride I took in a bus, we had to get down at Hatkoti, where we visited the Hateshwari temple, and again board another bus to our final destination. As soon as we boarded the
next bus, within 5 minutes, the tyre got punctured and people got down without
a murmur. Had the same thing happened in a city, people would have grumbled
with an irritated expression plastered over their faces. But here, people got
down with a sign of resignation to move on to other things. I had observed the
same thing while I was in Spiti too. Road blocks due to bad weather, accidents,
etc is a usual thing and people just resign to Nature and Time without any
anger.
I had another opportunity to travel to the Mall road, Lift
stop, from my guest house. This time as soon as I boarded, a gentleman gave up
his seat for me. To return his kind gesture, I offered to hold his bag this
time. I am not sure if he was worried I may fall, seeing the way I was trying
to find my balance, but I thanked him profusely.
The last trip on the road, again, the longer one, was not by
bus, but in a car, but it deserves mention here. In some places there was muck
due to rainfall the previous day, and we saw trucks and buses stranded on the
way. On that stretch, the other passengers in our car got down, so the car
would be lighter and we walked in ankle deep muck and slush. Luckily, the muck
had dried a bit, but we had to watch our step.
This is not in any way to complain about bad roads. Hats off
to the local people who travel often on these roads without complaining! It was
an experience for me. I saw people cheerfully greeting each other in the bus.
Women with colorful head scarves called ‘dhaatu’ and interesting patterns on
their sweaters and jackets and men with the traditional Himachali topi and
traditional but stylish jackets boarded and un-boarded. The bus journey was
almost a metaphor for life. Be undeterred by the bumpy roads, because life goes
on, no matter what!!
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