Last evening, I had a terrible time traveling. I never had even imagined that I would take more than 2 hours to travel back home.
It was raining heavily by 17:15 and for that reason, to avoid the rain, I left by 19:15. It is hard to believe for me even now that I reached home by 22:45. 3 ½ hours traveling a distance of 25 odd kms!!!
I cursed myself for having left by the 19:15 bus. Normally, I leave by the 17:15 Bus or the 20:15 Bus or the 22:45 Cab. I think, If I had left by the 22:45 Cab, I would have reached home by 23:30 or 23:45 max. I also would have had fun interacting with the other ppl in the cab and the driver. This driver is a friend of mine. I have traveled with him for quite some time… more than a year and half.
I tried to keep progress of the movement of the traffic. Our bus was moving so slowly that almost all of us felt like being rocked in a cradle and were lulled to sleep by the traffic. When I awoke, it was 20:30 and the bus was at a point called “Kudlu Gate” which is abt 4 kms from our office. 1 hour to reach 4 kms. Amazing and sick I tell you.
The reason why I left by the 19:15 bus is that my aunt had called me for dinner at her house. I had inadvertently agreed. I realized the same by 19:05 and rushed to the bus parking lot. By the time I got down at Basaveshwaranagar Circle, it was 22:15. I rushed to her house, had dinner and then, rushed to my house. It was 22:45 by the time I reached home.
I felt bad on the way to my house thinking abt the bus driver. We, employees, were dozing in our seats. A few ppl were chatting with their relatives/friends on their mobile phones, a few were playing games in their mobiles, a few more were listening to Radio City. What could the driver possibly do? All that he had to do is patiently wait for the traffic to get cleared. Nothing else. He did not have any cleaner boys or navigators to sit and chat with in the midst of the traffic jam. He could have spoken to the employees who were sitting in the first seat, but he could not do so coz they were North Indian Girls. They do not know Kannada, he is not fluent in Hindi. They are girls and employees, so, they would not speak to this fellow even if he tries to start a conversation going. He had to drop all of us. I think the final dropping time would be around 22:30 (At Shankar Mutt) and from there, I think he had to take the bus back all the way either to Nandini Layout (as that would be the starting point for the bus the next day morning) or to Koramangala Parking Lot or to any other common place like the KR Market. I know a few buses which come back all the way, actually, to KEC.
These drivers/cleaners/navigators are forced to drive all day long, through the traffic hell and they get one day off every week. Nothing like weekends or anything for them. They might be driving on Saturdays and Sundays, to take an off on Wednesday or Thursday. They have to sleep in the bus, which I am sure is not comfortable. Even they have their families to visit. They are not allowed to use cell phones in the bus or while on duty. They are not allowed to bring their friends along with them. They are not even allowed to start a conversation with an employee. If a driver over rules the last rule and starts a conversation with someone, Then, he faces the problems that I mentioned above. He has to ensure that he does not speak any thing out of context to the female passengers sitting in the cabin. He tries to speak to them only in Hindi. What can he speak about?? What might be the context??? He cannot speak about coding or development. He cannot speak about Infy announcing a bonus. He cannot speak about his family. All that he can speak is a few words on the terrible traffic position. That’ll amount to cribbing.
I think the drivers are now used to driving silently. I know of people who have complained to the authorities that the driver scolded another vehicle driver using a bad term. Why and How are these employees connected with that??? It is the driver’s freedom to shout at another erring driver. It might be that the driver would vent out his frustration in his local language. He might feel comfortable shouting at the other driver and the only scolding which can make any effect would be a bad term. The driver is admonished even for that!!!
GOK what these employees expect out of the transport facility which is being provided to them!!!
PS: GOK – God Only Knows :o)
Ondu - One
Anisike - Feeling
It was raining heavily by 17:15 and for that reason, to avoid the rain, I left by 19:15. It is hard to believe for me even now that I reached home by 22:45. 3 ½ hours traveling a distance of 25 odd kms!!!
I cursed myself for having left by the 19:15 bus. Normally, I leave by the 17:15 Bus or the 20:15 Bus or the 22:45 Cab. I think, If I had left by the 22:45 Cab, I would have reached home by 23:30 or 23:45 max. I also would have had fun interacting with the other ppl in the cab and the driver. This driver is a friend of mine. I have traveled with him for quite some time… more than a year and half.
I tried to keep progress of the movement of the traffic. Our bus was moving so slowly that almost all of us felt like being rocked in a cradle and were lulled to sleep by the traffic. When I awoke, it was 20:30 and the bus was at a point called “Kudlu Gate” which is abt 4 kms from our office. 1 hour to reach 4 kms. Amazing and sick I tell you.
The reason why I left by the 19:15 bus is that my aunt had called me for dinner at her house. I had inadvertently agreed. I realized the same by 19:05 and rushed to the bus parking lot. By the time I got down at Basaveshwaranagar Circle, it was 22:15. I rushed to her house, had dinner and then, rushed to my house. It was 22:45 by the time I reached home.
I felt bad on the way to my house thinking abt the bus driver. We, employees, were dozing in our seats. A few ppl were chatting with their relatives/friends on their mobile phones, a few were playing games in their mobiles, a few more were listening to Radio City. What could the driver possibly do? All that he had to do is patiently wait for the traffic to get cleared. Nothing else. He did not have any cleaner boys or navigators to sit and chat with in the midst of the traffic jam. He could have spoken to the employees who were sitting in the first seat, but he could not do so coz they were North Indian Girls. They do not know Kannada, he is not fluent in Hindi. They are girls and employees, so, they would not speak to this fellow even if he tries to start a conversation going. He had to drop all of us. I think the final dropping time would be around 22:30 (At Shankar Mutt) and from there, I think he had to take the bus back all the way either to Nandini Layout (as that would be the starting point for the bus the next day morning) or to Koramangala Parking Lot or to any other common place like the KR Market. I know a few buses which come back all the way, actually, to KEC.
These drivers/cleaners/navigators are forced to drive all day long, through the traffic hell and they get one day off every week. Nothing like weekends or anything for them. They might be driving on Saturdays and Sundays, to take an off on Wednesday or Thursday. They have to sleep in the bus, which I am sure is not comfortable. Even they have their families to visit. They are not allowed to use cell phones in the bus or while on duty. They are not allowed to bring their friends along with them. They are not even allowed to start a conversation with an employee. If a driver over rules the last rule and starts a conversation with someone, Then, he faces the problems that I mentioned above. He has to ensure that he does not speak any thing out of context to the female passengers sitting in the cabin. He tries to speak to them only in Hindi. What can he speak about?? What might be the context??? He cannot speak about coding or development. He cannot speak about Infy announcing a bonus. He cannot speak about his family. All that he can speak is a few words on the terrible traffic position. That’ll amount to cribbing.
I think the drivers are now used to driving silently. I know of people who have complained to the authorities that the driver scolded another vehicle driver using a bad term. Why and How are these employees connected with that??? It is the driver’s freedom to shout at another erring driver. It might be that the driver would vent out his frustration in his local language. He might feel comfortable shouting at the other driver and the only scolding which can make any effect would be a bad term. The driver is admonished even for that!!!
GOK what these employees expect out of the transport facility which is being provided to them!!!
PS: GOK – God Only Knows :o)
Ondu - One
Anisike - Feeling
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