ST Buses.. The Red Riding HOODS.....

Another test under the scanner, it was time to hit out... & be away from the gang & all that college talk..... No booze this time round.. In fact, booze was never meant for me..I feel... The overhanging feeling makes the effort come to naught....

So, decided to hit out on an ST Trail.... well yes.. roaming around in an ST Bus..
Uran; which lies in my backyard... has been on my mind for a while... Given that, the marketing test got over in an hours time, meant I had some free time to make use of...Caught the ST bus for URAN.. . was there in about 30 min.. Wonder if Dronagiri & Uran are one & the same place..
Anyways, from there on, decided to hit out to the Ferry to catch a glimpse of the boats & the activity around it... The nearest Ferry was @ Karanja... a 20min auto drive from the ST stand.

Karanja is like any other fishing village, with trawlers large & small bobbling in the low tide. As i reached the jetty, the thoought of extending the trip, kind of hit me... And so it began...with Alibaug just a stones throw away... wanted to make the most of the opportunity to hit the water.. A brief wait, some chai & bang.. hadmanaged to reach the opposite shore.... REWAS.. the ferry ride was short.. lasted about 15min.. South Mumbai, seemed so close from there... Wonder how it would be to travel to S-Mumabi, everyday by the oceanliner...!!

It was dusk, by the time i set foot on Rewas... the plan was to reach Alibaug & come back in an ST. Having been there about 12 years back, had vague memories of the place... So, was a good time to test my knowledge & also revisit the place. Had grossly underestimated the time between Rewas & Alibaug.. The 23 km distance took about an hr to cover, in teh 10 seater TUM TUM... being a Sunday, ST traffic was minimal on that route...

The smells & sound while travelling through vast open country side is always a pleasure.. especially after an overdose of late nights & exam stress... the 23km skimmed through with ppl moving & out of the Airawath... Reached Alibaug by abt 7.45pm... & headed straight for the ST stand.. Had mentally prepared myself to spend the night @ the ST stand, in case buses were not available.... But hey, when in Maharashtra, there is always an ST to take u around...

With the bus for Dadar leaving @ 8.30pm, had some spare time to catch up on my memories....apart from hogging on chikkos & local alphonso's.....

The sight of an incoming ST bus, creates a beehive of activity & frenzy.. the young & the old, the plump & puny.. all seem to be confident of stopping the goddam busin its tracks, even before it has parked... The smallest of the lot, have the dishonour being dumped through the window..with the only intention of reserving a space..... As for the elderly lot.. the BUS seems to have no feelings... well, lets say, atleast in one place they show no reservation & believe in equality....

After the initial harakiri, i managed to get a seat, right @ the back.... It took a while before the storm/excitement to subside..... The less fortunate ones had to stand all the way through....

Once peace & normalcy is restored, it gave me an opportunity to study the various characters in & around my vicinity....
To my immediate left was an elderly chap returning from a marriage; he was busy munching samosas with Pepsi...
To my left was a young couple. When she was not yelling on the phone, informing her folks abouyt her whereabouts, it was Snoooze time...
Behind me were a boisterous bunch, who were low on excitement & so had managed to bring along 1/2 a bottle of whisky. Water was always @ hand.. & so the spirits were relatively high.
Ahead of me, was a kiddo & next to her came this aunty of a reasonably good frame.

Standing in the midst of all this, were 2 gujju business men.... When one of them was not explaining about the various business opportunities, the cell ensured that he was kept busy....

And so the Journey began.... @ the said time..8.30pm.

No sooner had we done a 20 min drive, the bloke next to me, would time & again retract his head from the window.... This was in sync with the lady ahead who would peek out of the window.. After a while, there was tablet of Ovamil being offered... Then , it dawned .. it was case of Tummy Upheaval accompanied by some Desperate Face Saving measures ...

With cell phones ringing, the one among the Whisky boys had a plan... & this is what he said....
" Mala phone de na... majha ITEM la phone karto......!! "
reply - " Aigeee... ata naaahi... Ajoon IDEA aaahe......; Panvel nantar, use kar... tya pudhe roaming nasnaar.." Wonder how good or bad an IDEA it was to keep the ITEm waiting.....

As for the gujju bhais... there was an incident which led to one of the Mota bais to blurting out..
" Aisi cheejein, kabhi kabhi LuckBy Chance hi hota hai....."

Finally managed to hit base @ about 10.30pm, after a 2 hr return journey back...
All in all, it was a chill trip, decided on the fly..

I guess, as people evolve, they just tend to loose touch with reality.... & develop hangups .... Travelling in an ST bus, with broken seats, window frames, hard cushioned seats, etc..etc... seem to draw the ire & frustration of those who are used to other luxuries....

All said, ST buses in some way do mange to link u with the masses & gives one an oportunity to appreciate the enoromous task they undertake of transporting ppl across the state; with the bare minimum of facilities.....

Hats off to the ST Red Riding Hoods.........