Travel: RETURN TRIP FROM BENGALURU

The bus I travelled in on my return journey

My bus was leaving Bangalore at 7.30 pm. I left the guesthouse by rickshaw at 5.30 pm as it was a long distance to the bus stop and the evening traffic is quite immense in Bangalore or so I was told. It was not too bad compared to Mumbai traffic, of course.

The Neeta Volvo came bang on time at 7.30 and we left a few minutes later. It was an uneventful journey while we stopped for dinner on the way.

It was raining crazily even before we reached Pune. It was a joy seeing all the waterfalls from within the cosy confines of the bus.

I watched a number of films during the trip – Aashiqui 2; Shootout at Wadala, Special 26, Himmatwala and a video CD of Aamir Khan songs – both ways. It was good fun and a novel experience.

There were at least three stops in Pune and it was pouring cats and dogs. Some people got in and others got out. I was busy on a phone call and later my book as the bus had been standing for about 15 minutes. I did wonder why it took so long for the bus to leave as we were not anywhere near a restaurant and we were already running late. I heard the driver, caretaker and a couple of other guys talking in the background.

A couple of minutes later, the caretaker walked towards the back of the bus and was shocked to see me sitting there. He asked me what I was doing there. In turn, I was startled and asked him why. That’s when he explained that the bus had broken down and all the passengers had been shifted to another bus and the second bus had left a few minutes ago.

This was at a stop just before Pune

I was quite cool about it as it was obvious that there was no use getting worked up. I asked the man whether they planned to leave me right there in Pune. He insisted that they would find accommodation for me in another bus that was due in 15 minutes and said that Neeta Volvo had a reputation to keep and they would never strand their passengers.

Another Volvo (not Neeta) came within 2 minutes and one of the guys carried my bag and ensured that I was seated comfortably and told the driver to drop me off at Sion. I was quite impressed by their service.

I reached Mumbai within three hours and was dropped right outside my lane and I was quite thrilled to reach home within two minutes in the pouring rain.

What a trip!