The story-teller is back…

It is always a pleasure to be back in Doon, even if its only for a few days. And once this sweet period is over, I have to rush back to gurgaon. And I am not really fond of it. But alas! You don’t have a choice. So as I geared up for the monotonous journey back – all alone, I had no idea what was in store for me…

There is just one direct bus shuttling between the two cities. Officially, it leaves from ISBT at 11pm every night. For any ordinary bus, reaching 10-15 minutes in advance would have sufficed. But, then this is no ordinary bus: Welcome to the Bus Extraordinaire (BE)!
Infact, some of my well-wishers had already advised me to reach ISBT earlier. This meant: 9.30pm to be on the safe side (90 minutes before the scheduled time!). Anytime later may jeopardise my plans. So I decided to play safe. And the rest is History:

Scene 1 (On Independence day break)-

I was there at 9.35pm (a trifle later than expected). Now as this was my first rendezvous with BE, so I was unawares of its location. I went to the enquiry to check it out! There was this typical enquiry guy (in his mid 50’s or so). I started: ‘Bhaiya woh gurgaon wali bus kahaan…'
I was cut short, as boomed the reply: ‘Arre bhai late ho gaye ho aap toh, jaldi jao platform no. 14’! I don’t exactly remember whether it was this urgency in his voice. But whatever be it, I literally ran to no. 14. One look at the maddening crowd there and I had a hint of difficult times ahead. There was a huge line (never ever seen anything like that before). I gingerly searched for the end as I stood there dazed. Well, it was my lucky day or night: I got the all-important ticket (a big achievement keeping in mind that almost 30% of the people did not!!!). Well everything went smooth from there on…

Scene 2 (On Rakshabandhan break)-

This time, I came well prepared. Infact, I was there at 9.15pm. But My God! As I reached no. 14, there was not a single soul to be seen. All had vanished without a trace. Then I recollected my thoughts: During my journey from platform no. 50 to no. 14, a bewildered crowd was running haphazardly towards me and there were familiar faces.


Suddenly, a voice roared: ‘Gurgaon jaane wali sawariyon se anurodh hai ki who platform no. 42 mein line bnaiyen’! And it was Run-time again. On no. 42, CHAOS prevailed…
A ruffled up person was standing on a bench and shouting at the top of his voice: ‘Agar tumne line nahi bnaiye to saa*** kisiko ticket nahi milegi aur…’. Before the conductor (yes I had recognized the poor soul) could finish. The raging crowd backfired: ‘Hamein pagal samjha hai kya b***c***, picchle 2 ghante se kabhi yahaan kabhi wahaan bhaga rakha hai. Teri toh ****…’

I was almost paralysed at my place. When I finally returned to my senses and got hold of the situation, it seemed too late. I was standing on the 7th new line (the guy ahead of me told me this highly controversial no. – he had arrived at 8pm to catch BE). Hoping against hope, I gazed at my watch: 9.55pm. Then I looked forward at a gleam of hope. For there right at the start of the line, stood my old coaching class friend- Mayank! I knew: it was now or never! I dumped my bag on the ground and ran towards my would-be savior. After a quick introduction (Thank God! He recognized me too). He agreed to buy my ticket also, if allowed. But there was one small problem: His bag was lying somewhere in the BE. I assured him that I would take care of his belongings.

The interior of the bus told a different story. People had already occupied 90% of the seats and his Red & Black bag was nowhere to be found. Then I glanced on that last seat: Yippee! There it was lying beneath 3 big bags. In an instant fit, I took the bag in one hand and jumped to the nearest vacant seat. Two seats were booked now by yours truly, but where was Mayank?
More people had started filling the bus now (with those precious tickets in their hands). And then I saw a family of 4 people approaching the last seat.

‘Bhaiya yahaan koi baitha hai kya (pointing to the bag)’
My reply: ‘Haanji’
‘Kahaan hai???’
My reply: ‘Mera dost hai, washroom se aa rha hai…’
‘Jab aayega tab baithna, abhi utho yahaan…’

Before I could bounce back, there he was: my dear friend with the tickets. I have never been so much relieved to see a person.

So as 8 people sat on the last seat of BE: victorious after waging a herculean battle, the bus finally moved! I was again lucky. Because the whole bus was completely packed to the doors, with people standing everywhere (believe me even on a night journey)…

To be Continued…