DIFFERENT MODES (MOODS) OF TRAVEL

My readers are aware that I commute daily from Roorkee to Dehradun for my work. It presents an interesting opportunity for me to travel by different modes of transport. Most of the time I travel in Trackers (I have earlier written about them) and sometimes by state govt buses mostly UP and and very rarely Uttarakhand roadways. During last week one of my friend suggested me to travel with 03 more friends in a pooled car. The offer was good so I accepted. I traveled in the car for only 03 days and from the next week onwards I had to offer my inability to travel leisurely in the comforts of the Maruti Swift.  Travelling in the car was not at all enjoyable as you are totally cut off from what is happening outside the windows of the car. Daily you are travelling with same sets of people and there is nothing interesting taking place in the car. You do not talk to each other just listen to those oft repeated songs that too in a lour noise. After travelling for 02 days only I was yearning to go back to my jam packed city bus, packed auto and more humble (not the drivers) ST buses. And then one fine day I had to declare to my surprised friends of my decision of leaving the conforts of their car.

If you continue to travel through public transport you meet so many interesting people on the way. You become the part and parcel of the place and city through which you are travelling. Travelling in the car virtually cut you off from rest of the humanity on the road. And for me travelling in the car was just  like as if you have been imprisoned. I started missing my travels with the most common people, witnessing their urgency and listening to their day to day conversation and meeting with lots of interesting people and witnessing lots of interesting events and incidents. One of the most enjoyable thing for me during these travels is to sleep on the way. During my journey from Roorkee to Dehradun, in the mornings  if I happen to catch ST bus then I usually read some book upto Chutmalpur and then I go to sleep during the remaining journey. During return journey it is only sweet sleet as it is already night when I catch the return bus. Travelling in the car did not offer me such luxuries. Reading something was impossible and sleeping even more difficult due to the excess speed of the car. It only made me feeling sick instead of offering any comforts. I was totally denied my sweet sleep and my favorite hobby of reading during my car journeys, which thankfully lasted only for 03 days.

When I told my friends that I will not be able to come with them they all were surprised to know the reason. And when on Monday I travelled in the ST bus to Dehradun and then in crowded city bus I just felt arrived "At Home".  Travelling in the car was just like a prison, where there was not any freedom. Now I can imagine why these wanderers and Sanyasis roam carefree for they have nothing to be lost. Owner of the car is always worried about the smallest scratch on the body of his beloved car. There is always a chance of having to involve in unnecessary incidents of road rage, whereupon you have to become a party to these uncalled incidents. Travelling in the public transport saves your from all such unsavory events. If one ST bus has developed some snag on midway there will be another coming to take you at your destination. So dear readers enjoy your journeys in the public transport like I do and save little bit of patrol also.       

FATAL ACCIDENT SEEN ON SAHARANPUR-DEHRADUN HIGHWAY TODAY MORNING (07 OCT 2013)

Journeys with the Common Men in an Uncommon Way

               

Sometimes I have to catch what they call Trackers, these are re-model led vehicles where some changes in the body are made so that they could easily accommodate the passengers more than the capacity for which they are intended to built. Dehradun is an upcoming big city in the vicinity of the borders of Uttar Pradesh, where lots of daily wage workers comes from different villages of Saharanpur district of UP. These people aged between 18-45 (mostly) start their journey to Dehradun from different places at the same time when my tracker comes on these stops. Front seats are already occupied by the passengers who have boarded the vehicle from Roorkee on Chutmalpur. Rear space is kept vacant for these people. And believe me where there is space only for 04 people to sit they just adjust around 10 people and some times more than this number. The other day out of the curiosity I happen to count the people travelled in one of those trackers and the total man count was added upto 22 people, whereas the vehicle has got the SEATING CAPACITY of  only 09 people. So my readers would be eager to know where these additional people are made to sit or rather stand or just packed in the rear box.

              Well here is the plan,  at the front seat where driver sits there are 04 people other than the driver and on the rear seat again there 05 people (where yours truly travels)  and rest 10-12 people are made to adjust in the rear space. Well I have seen these people travelling without making any complaints and why do they travel in such inhuman conditions, because the Govt bus would charge them a fare of Rs. 40/- from one side and these trackers are charging anything between Rs. 20-30 per passenger. Sometimes these people do not even travel in these trackers, instead to save few more rupees from their hard earned money they travel in Trucks and other loaders, even I myself have enjoyed such trips when there was no bus service due strike or elections.

               It is really wonderful to see how these people get themselves adjusted in that limited space they may be complete strangers but a sort of camaraderie is developed because they all know that they are belonging to same social strata and traveling for similar purpose and again may be they may get employed for that particular day at the same site (they are handpicked by the people at various junctions in the Dehradun city, each day). One of the common sight of these gathering could be witnessed at what they call LAL PULL. (Red bridge).  This is the story of common man of India and what do they talk during their journey it is really interesting to know, I have had opportunity to travel with different-different sorts of people, business class, people in jobs (govt. and pvt.) and students. My readers would astonished to know that according to my observation and experience I found these classes of people travelling without making any complaint or remarks on the political conditions of the country or for that matter other conditions of the world and country. Students and these labourers travel without engaging in any political discussion and WITHOUT FINDING FAULTS WITH ANYTHING UNDER THE SUN WHICH HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH GOVT AND POLITICS. Whereas the favourite pass time of govt servants is to criticize the very organisation which is the reason of their bread and butter. 

            The govt servants are always engaged in criticizing the govt policies, talks of pay commissions, raise in the salary, and topics of other office politics. Worsening conditions of the roads, modes of travels etc. I sometimes wonder listening to the conversation (UN-intentionally) which is not supposed to be discussed in the public, but they go on discussing the things without paying any attention to their surroundings. 

             I sometimes wonder what these people must be thinking. Common man is just like a Philosopher, he is totally engrossed in his day to day work, he is worried about whether he would get any work to do for that particular day or he would just end up spending money on his travel in search of work. He might be thinking how he would travel back to his home with money or without money, there may be some urgent requirements and lots of those thoughts. I never seen these people engaged in heated discussions and quarrels as our own middle class people do when they do not get the thing which they consider is their birth right.