Red monster, Red chariot

Pmt buses....well most souls who have been staying in pune for atleast a considerable amount of time and have been victims of low affordability, principled parents who feel their kids should 'experience' buses, irritatingly defiant rickshawallahs known for their absence of manners or something as simple as say a broken down bike or a petrol saving urge.....have travelled in our very own public transport buses, the PMTs....!! Then be it the khatara, rattling thing with wheels they call a bus, or the brand new, shiny red wagons that are in such majority nowadays...we've seen it all!

My first tryst with the PMT was not exactly the scary experience i thought it to be....it was pretty normal and kinda easy peasy...and i was like, why the hell was i rotting in rickshaws so many days??? But the awestruck impression was not to stay!! Very soon my nose had to go through the ordeal of having to breath in gutkha filled atmospheres. And this was mostly caused by oily, bearded men and bulgy, pumpkin-like females (with a very funny sounding rural dialect and a particularly sonorous voice) alike. They munch on gutkha, have blood red liquid oozing outta their mouth and they shamelessly talk with the apparatus still IN their mouths...its GROSS. I mean, i thank my stars i haven't puked my lungs out...

When i tell this to my mother, with the hope that she'll suddenly mellow down and think of buying me a bike, she just shrugs, rolls her eyes and says typical things like, 'ya you need to go through all this to face the big bad world' and 'good its hardening you up in a good way...bike will come but when will you experience this?'...so now i've stopped complaining and seriously...it doesnt really bother me anymore...i jus try to grab a window seat, hook the good ol' earphones in the ear and trust me, i am the happiest chick in the whole of the population of happiest chicks!!

But the real problem comes when these joys of PMT commuting are not attained...like, the other day, a pal and me were going to khadki and we were happily sitting, me at the window and she beside me when suddenly, this kinda funny looking gal started stroking my pal's hair!!! Now the bus was pretty crowded and filled with quite an expanse of humanity so this particular female wasnt noticed. But now, she had this insane-ish smile on her face as she stroked the hair...THAT totally freaked us out!! We hurriedly got down at our stop and the freakogal giggled at us through the window!! Then, once, this really fat lady literally sat on my lap...she was like move there move there and then, when i really couldnt move any more, she jus sat!! Trust me, it was painful and she even had the nerve to strike conversations...:\ And then, one day we had to stand in the bus and it was like, suffocatingly packed...my feet were hardly touching the ground...and then, like a wave washing over me, came the smell of sweat!! I breathlessly looked at the source who turned out to be this huge, hairy man who was literally dripping with perspiration and had curly black hair sticking outta his ears (gag)...It was the worst ever bus ride i had till date....I suddenly wished i was carrying like a century's supply of deodarants!!!

Apart from these typical bus related incidents, if you are especially a girl, its very obvious to be wary of sickos who pretend to fall on you, mistakenly hold your hand, come and sit beside you when there's like almost a whole row empty and so on....seriously the list just goes on....

But, everything said and done, buses are undoubtedly the cheapest and the safest modes of transport you can get. What costs me Rs.60 by rick is jus a mere Rs.7 by bus...and trust me, if you are a student with meagre resources, you sure know thats like an ocean of profit. Also, i can travel as late as 9.30 alone, in a bus for the simple reason that its jampacked with people of both sexes and nothing can really happen...Plus, its pretty fuel efficient if used in the right way..now just imagine how much fuel would be used if ALL those passengers (almost 50 or more) used bikes....and this with each bus!!! Definitely a LOT.

And, on a more personal scale, i kinda like travelling by bus...makes me feel all grown up and independent...i can jus sit there looking outta the window...thinking just about anything...savage garden singing in my ears......nice breeze softly falling on my face.....wow...i cant believe m actually glorifying it so much...but then again, its always a matter of perspective, right??