Thursday, April 19, 2007

Bus number 5E..


To REALLY get to know a city in and out, you have to travel on one of the PTC buses. The ultimate mode of transportation, for the common man/woman.

The bus on which i will have to travel back and forth till the 16th of May, is 5E.. It goes all way from the Gandhi Mandapam bus stop till the vadapalani bus depot, its a painful one hour ride. Now Vadapalani, is a forgotten part of the city. Every 10 steps on the Vadapalani roads will make u want to hurl. Dirt everywhere, strange odours, oggling men (despite the fact that you're wearing the most horrendeous kurta you own) and to add to it all.. the intense Madras heat. Hell, is right HERE on earth ladies and gentlemen.

A new world has opened up to me.. I have become a hard core PTC bus traveller. And my landmarks to ensure that the bus is on the right track are.. some baby donkeys on the way, a barking rabid dog, a picture of Amma in red with the 2 leaf symbol under her picture which makes her look like a rose.. (Go figure) and a Subhiksha store..

And as for my fellow travellers and people on the roads, the following junta caught my eye.. A bunch of really cute looking beggar boys buying tickets from the conductor and one boy meticulously stuffing four 10 rupee notes into his pocket, a school kid standing next to me with a bag 5 times bigger than her, the fat oiled hair smelly woman leaning against me like i was her pillar, a cute big headed bald baby with big eyes lying next to his mom on a bench and kicking his legs and arms in the air and gurgling with joy every 5 seconds after seeing a bus whiz by..

PTC buses.. something all of us mall going, coffee drinking, movie addicts MUST try at least ONCE in our life. Our day to day problems would begin to diminish and fade away and we'd suddenly realize that our lives are painfree and very shallow at times.

3 comments:

munchkin said...

i just love bus journey..nothing can out beat it:)so u pass my house daily:p cos 5e passes the subiksha that ur talkin abt which is right next to my house :) not exactly next...it is opposite to the stop that comes after subiksha :)
ur not a hard core bus traveller..:)only five days of experience madam considers herself to be a part of it...then we bus commuters what do u call us :P
pro eh;)
anywyas was jus kiddin hardcore bus traveller;)
nice one:)

Sandee said...

i am more of a share auto fellow.. thats a diff experience altogether :)

u shud really check it out!!

sowmya said...

yeah it was so fun... i never noticed wen tht hr passed by!! intersting to look at ppl on the road.. on the bus.. n also the ones between them(footboard)!!
n how could u miss the wig shop yaar??? it was my fav landmark!!