Bus Route Number 770

A helpful colleague suggested why not try bus route no. 770 to go to Dhaula Kuan and thence by another bus to Gurgaon. The absence of other feasible options made it easier to decide and I set out in search of what I was convinced was the holy grail a bus service that actually gets you from one place to another without major delay or mishap or mauling.

The first surprise was that it came quite soon (the service was regular, I was told), the second was that it was quite empty (the depot was nearby, I learnt) the third was that it travelled quite fast (it was on hire to DTC on the kilometre basis, I realised when I got the ticket) and the pleasantest surprise of all, it took a marvellous route via Ferozeshah Road and Willingdon Crescent to reach Dhaula Kuan from the ITO crossing in no time.

 

The public sector lives, I shouted silently to myself and got off at the semi-dark mela of a couple of hundred other passengers also waiting to find a bus to Udaipur, Jaipur and, of course, Gurgaon. Something turned up and I was home in one and a half hours from leaving office when by car it would have taken me 45 minutes. That seemed a bargain as I had spent Rs 10 when a return trip by the car to fetch me would have burned petrol worth Rs 70. Thus began what has now become my new love affair with Delhis bus service. The more I make a fairly bearable 25 km journey in one and a half hours, the more my infatuation grows.

Mumbais bus service is legendary but as I have grown up in Calcutta, I can settle for less. I strongly feel Delhiites complain too much about the great thing that they have going for themselves. You can do worse than get onto a Blueline, like get in its way. Delhis roads are mostly wide and clear and it has more buses than other cities can imagine. The name of the game is to get onto a bus. They dont like to stop just because someone is signalling frantically from a bus stop. But once you are in, progress is surprisingly good.

Making a success of bus travel is an acquired art. There are so many products on offer and you have to know how what to choose. A private bus is usually dirtier than a DTC bus both the bus and its passengers. A chance ride on a chartered bus is fine but bad luck if you have to sit in it as it idles down every little road around Connaught Place to pick up all its regulars before picking up speed. There is a way of easing yourself down the aisle of the bus to find just that little bit of standing space where you are neither crushed nor trampled upon as others pass by.

There is a certain fellow feeling in bus travel. If the bus should start just as you are jumping onto the footboard, chances are that a few strong hands will drag you up. Ask about a connecting bus and immediately varied advice will be forthcoming; and if it is a particularly knotty logistical problem then a little conclave forms to find out the best solution. Try to get off a running bus at a turning, and you will get a mouthful from assorted passengers whose concern for your safety is touching.

Delhis middle class has forgotten what it is to travel by bus. A bus ride is a joyous exception for my children who find it much more exciting than sitting cramped in a Maruti. When they go to Calcutta for their summer vacation they relish the rides on mini buses and have to bear with my long stories of how wonderful tram rides used to be in the good old days. And, of course, the high point is the ride on the Metro. One of the unforgettable days of their lives was to take the Metro to the Nandan where they saw on the wide screen the movie Lion King.

The way Delhis pollution is heading, the real waiting game is to see how long it takes for those who have the means to find other solutions in the short run, to realise that the communitys health and well-being lies in having clean, dependable and affordable public transport. In Mumbai, which has its trains as well as buses, only company bigwigs and lunatics will not use public transport to come to town. How long Delhi and Los Angeles have to suffer before deciding to take after Mumbai and London remains to be seen.

Money and organisation may appear to be great problems but the greatest hurdle is certain class feelings rooted in the subconscious. The good friend who heads a public relations concern and is kind enough to occasionally recall something he had read was the other day quite positive about a piece on how south Delhi is declining. And almost in the manner of recalling the latest Pico Iyer piece on a really far out holiday, he noted that it talked of how the jholawala (jour- nalist/teacher/NGOstaffer) who could afford to ride against the peak hour traffic, could find a bus ride quite functional!