Monday, October 11, 2010

The Great Dussehra Rush

Last night Shobha and Anjali left for Pune on a bus. Anjali was very excited at the prospect of travelling by bus to see her Ajji ('I have to go to Pune,' she confided, a couple of weeks ago, 'Ajji is waiting for me.'). So intent was she on not missing the bus that she wanted to go without wasting any time on eating dinner! And more importantly ensure that 'father' did not eat any dinner! (Probably thought that this process would surely delay her getting on the bus).

Anyway as we waited outside Axon hospital waiting for the Neeta Travels bus, we were amazed to see the number of people waiting on the other side for buses to transport them to places in the Southern part of the state i.e. Vijayawada and towards Bangalore. Buses came in an unending torrent, choking the almost two hundred feet wide road from S.R. Nagar to Srinivas Nagar colony in three or even four ply thickness. It was a sight to see, scary almost, the number of buses, people, the mad rush and the police trying to keep some order in the madness. All this went on from 10 p.m. till well past 11 p.m. until which I was there. I must have seen in excess of 200-250 buses on that side of the road alone!!

Trains are full, buses are full, prices are double (Neeta charged a premium of almost Rs. 400 on its seats), flights are exorbitantly high, pandals are out and the kids in my colony are as noisy as ever. Dussehra vacations are in my friends!

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