I guess everyone gets excited the moment they hear the word "Long weekend". Yes I too got excited and adding to it I was going home to Bellary. But all my excitement was drained by the time I got into the bus near Majestic to reach home. This happened on Thursday Aug 14th. 15th aug (Friday) was holiday so decided to spend the whole weekend at home...had reserved the tickets 15 days prior. I had a slight hint of traffic jams on such long weekends so planned to leave home to reach Majestic early. I was happy to reach home very soon from office as there were no jams from Whitefield to my home in Kalyan Nagar (Banaswadi). It started raining heavily at 6:30 and continued till 7:30PM....I was just wishing the rain to stop before I leave home. Thankfully rain stopped at 7:45. My bus was at 11PM, so by the time I had dinner and left from home it was 8:15 PM. normally it takes 20-30 mins to reach Majestic from my home. But I did not want to take any risks....so left early to catch a city bus to Majestic.
By the time I got the City bus from the stop near my home it was 8:50PM....almost 35 mins of waiting (rarely so much delay). Here, I got a small hint of whets in store for me today. Things started to worsen by the time I reached Cunningham Road (Shivaji Nagar). Already it was 9:30 when I reached there....so I started fearing about missing the bus...coz I was expecting major traffic jam at Mysore bank near Majestic. But I was still very much far from there :(.
Hoping for the best I continued my journey in the city bus towards Majestic. When my bus reached Vidhana Soudha ( I call it Nidhana Soudha ....Every govt work here gets done very slowly) it started drizzling again. But I felt safe in the bus now and sympathized people who were walking and moving on 2 Wheelers....but envied the people in the comforts of their cars. Suddenly the traffic came to a stand still in front of Vidhana Soudha and for 10 mins nobody moved. It was 10PM now and I started fearing the worst. My journey from home till Vidhana Souda was supposed to be of 20 mins but had become 70 mins. The worst was yet to come....The Mysore Bank Junction.
I started wondering whether I’ll ever reach Majestic seeing the halt at Vidhana Soudha for so long. I made a bold decision at 10:15 PM of getting out of bus and taking an auto to Majestic. It was drizzling more heavily now and I got out of bus to catch an auto. But to my disappointment no auto was daring to come towards Majestic. Everyone suggested one thing "Better walk to Majestic than taking a vehicle".....Majestic was 4kms away. I tried catching an auto in opposite direction to go to Majestic by some other way. But auto drivers raised there accelerators to max the moment they heard the word "Majestic" without showing any courtesy on me...getting drenched now. One auto driver stopped but for a cost....he demanded Rs.400/- to drop me. I did not utter a word and moved away from the auto....he too moved fast giving me a hard look. Now I decided to walk the remaining distance by taking a route via Raj Bhavan road...Race Course Road and then Anand Rao Circle....where my bus pick up point was. As I walked by the vehicles standing idle with the engines off on Raj Bhavan road....I now sympathized the people who were sitting in the comforts of the car...they can’t abandon the vehicles nor avoid the traffic. There I saw a Merc-Benz S-Class....it’s seemed useless to sit in such a costly car and u can’t move an inch.
By the time I reached Race Course Road it was 10:45 ....15 more mins for my bus to depart. I was wondering how could my bus move if there is such a traffic jam....this made me feel happy. As I was moving on RC Road....it started raining heavily and no shelter to stop I continued getting wet. But an auto driver came to my help by offering the front seat of already packed auto. It took me for a kilometer and again the traffic came to stand still. It was 11 PM now and I was still a mile away from my destination. Rain stopped now and I decided to walk the remaining distance again. The auto driver showed now mercy in demanding Rs.50/- for a kilometer ride. I gave him 20 for the help and moved away without talking. Now I made a call to office of the bus....to ask them to wait for me. He just said me to take my own time as the bus has not reached the starting point itself from the depot. This made me happy for not missing the bus...but unhappy for the delay this will cause to reach my home.
Finally I was able to get into my bus at 12:30 ...almost 90 mins late than scheduled. I don’t remember a single moment after I sat in my seat ...went into deep sleep and woke only after the cleaner was shouting "saar..saar..Bellary...last stop saar". Thank god I made it. One of the worst experiences of my travel to my home. I fear going home on long weekends now. The situation was worsened by the rain but these traffic jams will always be there. I heard stories of my friends having similar problems on the same day. What a night it was ufffff.
By the time I got the City bus from the stop near my home it was 8:50PM....almost 35 mins of waiting (rarely so much delay). Here, I got a small hint of whets in store for me today. Things started to worsen by the time I reached Cunningham Road (Shivaji Nagar). Already it was 9:30 when I reached there....so I started fearing about missing the bus...coz I was expecting major traffic jam at Mysore bank near Majestic. But I was still very much far from there :(.
Hoping for the best I continued my journey in the city bus towards Majestic. When my bus reached Vidhana Soudha ( I call it Nidhana Soudha ....Every govt work here gets done very slowly) it started drizzling again. But I felt safe in the bus now and sympathized people who were walking and moving on 2 Wheelers....but envied the people in the comforts of their cars. Suddenly the traffic came to a stand still in front of Vidhana Soudha and for 10 mins nobody moved. It was 10PM now and I started fearing the worst. My journey from home till Vidhana Souda was supposed to be of 20 mins but had become 70 mins. The worst was yet to come....The Mysore Bank Junction.
I started wondering whether I’ll ever reach Majestic seeing the halt at Vidhana Soudha for so long. I made a bold decision at 10:15 PM of getting out of bus and taking an auto to Majestic. It was drizzling more heavily now and I got out of bus to catch an auto. But to my disappointment no auto was daring to come towards Majestic. Everyone suggested one thing "Better walk to Majestic than taking a vehicle".....Majestic was 4kms away. I tried catching an auto in opposite direction to go to Majestic by some other way. But auto drivers raised there accelerators to max the moment they heard the word "Majestic" without showing any courtesy on me...getting drenched now. One auto driver stopped but for a cost....he demanded Rs.400/- to drop me. I did not utter a word and moved away from the auto....he too moved fast giving me a hard look. Now I decided to walk the remaining distance by taking a route via Raj Bhavan road...Race Course Road and then Anand Rao Circle....where my bus pick up point was. As I walked by the vehicles standing idle with the engines off on Raj Bhavan road....I now sympathized the people who were sitting in the comforts of the car...they can’t abandon the vehicles nor avoid the traffic. There I saw a Merc-Benz S-Class....it’s seemed useless to sit in such a costly car and u can’t move an inch.
By the time I reached Race Course Road it was 10:45 ....15 more mins for my bus to depart. I was wondering how could my bus move if there is such a traffic jam....this made me feel happy. As I was moving on RC Road....it started raining heavily and no shelter to stop I continued getting wet. But an auto driver came to my help by offering the front seat of already packed auto. It took me for a kilometer and again the traffic came to stand still. It was 11 PM now and I was still a mile away from my destination. Rain stopped now and I decided to walk the remaining distance again. The auto driver showed now mercy in demanding Rs.50/- for a kilometer ride. I gave him 20 for the help and moved away without talking. Now I made a call to office of the bus....to ask them to wait for me. He just said me to take my own time as the bus has not reached the starting point itself from the depot. This made me happy for not missing the bus...but unhappy for the delay this will cause to reach my home.
Finally I was able to get into my bus at 12:30 ...almost 90 mins late than scheduled. I don’t remember a single moment after I sat in my seat ...went into deep sleep and woke only after the cleaner was shouting "saar..saar..Bellary...last stop saar". Thank god I made it. One of the worst experiences of my travel to my home. I fear going home on long weekends now. The situation was worsened by the rain but these traffic jams will always be there. I heard stories of my friends having similar problems on the same day. What a night it was ufffff.
