Travelling on a Sunday is no less of a hassle in Mumbai. The other day, I promised an acquaintance my time on Sunday at Vakola - a few bus stops after Kurla station.
So, on the Sunday we decided upon, I got out at 4:35 pm from my building premises, reached GTB Nagar station at 4:45 pm and landed at Kurla station by say 5:15 pm.
I had to take a bus then. Vakola can be reached only with the help of God and a bus - the No. 313 run religiously by the BEST. It's a double-decker usually and so, you almost always get a seat.
However, much to my dismay, the BEST isn't all that religious on a Sunday.
The line for the bus was serpentine. Which meant that buses were trickling in - instead of pouring in as they do on weekdays. To make matters even worse, there wasn't any BEST inspector to supervise and keep the queue in control. So, it was a free for all the moment the bus turned up.
And the bus that did turn up wasn't - yes you're right - a double-decker. It was a shoe box of a bus that is quite the contraption used these days all in the name of fuel economy. This shoebox has the same wheels as the normal-sized BEST buses with a body reduced to less than half of a single-decker. As a result, it seems as if it'll trip and fall the moment it starts to run.
Fortunately though, that has not yet happened. What has happened is the BEST has been so pleased with its shoeboxes that it has flooded Mumbai with several of them. And one of them happened to ply that day on route no. 313.
Well, so the bus stopped at the bus stand and everyone decided to be part of a swarm of bees that had just one intention: rough its way out onto any vacant seat available.
A full three minutes after this, the shoebox began to move with the bees buzzing non-stop. I had a headache buzzing me for my attention too, but I didn't bother to ask what was the reason. The reason I knew and that is exactly the reason why I will never take the 313 on a Sunday.
So, on the Sunday we decided upon, I got out at 4:35 pm from my building premises, reached GTB Nagar station at 4:45 pm and landed at Kurla station by say 5:15 pm.
I had to take a bus then. Vakola can be reached only with the help of God and a bus - the No. 313 run religiously by the BEST. It's a double-decker usually and so, you almost always get a seat.
However, much to my dismay, the BEST isn't all that religious on a Sunday.
The line for the bus was serpentine. Which meant that buses were trickling in - instead of pouring in as they do on weekdays. To make matters even worse, there wasn't any BEST inspector to supervise and keep the queue in control. So, it was a free for all the moment the bus turned up.
And the bus that did turn up wasn't - yes you're right - a double-decker. It was a shoe box of a bus that is quite the contraption used these days all in the name of fuel economy. This shoebox has the same wheels as the normal-sized BEST buses with a body reduced to less than half of a single-decker. As a result, it seems as if it'll trip and fall the moment it starts to run.
Fortunately though, that has not yet happened. What has happened is the BEST has been so pleased with its shoeboxes that it has flooded Mumbai with several of them. And one of them happened to ply that day on route no. 313.
Well, so the bus stopped at the bus stand and everyone decided to be part of a swarm of bees that had just one intention: rough its way out onto any vacant seat available.
A full three minutes after this, the shoebox began to move with the bees buzzing non-stop. I had a headache buzzing me for my attention too, but I didn't bother to ask what was the reason. The reason I knew and that is exactly the reason why I will never take the 313 on a Sunday.
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