Neither am i new to bangalore nor is it my mistake to go on a cross country race from one end of this broken city to another during peak traffic hours.I should have really checked on the following to know if this city was really for me.After being employed in the same city at a walkable distance from home,destiny deviced my destination to be the Global Village campus on Mysore road.If you are just asking me where do i live,oh ya itz almost the other corner of the same city.I just live a stone's throws away from the HAL airport.Mmm.. the distance pretty much would be around 28KMS one way.To the outside world I live in the silicion city of India.But only would i know how poor is this city where i dwell on many fronts.And now letz hold a magnifying glass on the city's Transport Network & Facility if am generous enough to use these words for the kind of transport ways the city flaunts.
Letz assume my watch reads 6.45PM which is when I choicelessly step out of the GV campus on Mysore road to reach the old Airport.What happens next should be falling in any of the following possibilities.
P1:Office Shuttle-If I prefer to generously pay a whopping 1400 bucks to my parent company towards transportation,the headache is all theirs to make me reach home.But a huge idle time will have to be shelled out from my pocket.The driver will try his best to drive the bus as his F1 vehicle only until Gopalan Mall on Mysore Road.I should be patient enough to see my watch tick,minute by minute until 7.30 PM at this junction.By 7.45 PM the bus could manage to inch towards corporation circle.From here,the driver has the flexibility to actually take 2 different routes.
1-Drive in straight adjacent to dense cubbon park hitting MG rd at the end.
2-Drive across Vittal Mallya Road & get clogged in Richmond Circle.
However I could land in a hickup if I take route1 due to the chaos on MG Road due to the much anticipated Metro construction.So unless I happen to be a perfect personification of patience,am sure I wouldn't want to do that.Route2 is a little long route compared to the former.But then there isn't much choice if I atleast want to see myself moving block by block towards home.But like a famous saying All roads leads to Rome- whichever way I go I have to hit ASC centre which is where officially the HAL Airport Road begins.From there a little more minutes of patience will actually help me seeing the HAL Aiport on your right.I even bet a blank cheque with you that it can't be earlier than 8.20 PM during a peak traffic hour.
If you are asking me what will i do if my bus breaks down half way through.I promise I wouldn't get stranded by any means.I can fall as a prey to the autowallas anytime to reach my destination but can't expect to save my back for all the stunts they try on the speedbreakers & potholes on the pathetic city roads.Or all the missed gyming hours could be made use in pushing the bus for a restart along with my other commuters.Itz fun at times.Personally lemme tell you this isn't a bad mode of transport at all.
P2:Own Transport - CAR,Two wheeler - If I prefer to see my money vaporise than shelling out a huge sum on the company's shuttle,am sure i will fall in to this category.I wouldn't be having any fun on riding my vehicle atleast this far amidst the other chocking chariots on the arterial roads of bangalore.But lemme tell you,few more routes unfold once i hit corporation circle.I could actually deviate via SP Road & some how save few micro minutes before hitting UB city.And hence forth also I could drive straight till old madras road & cut across the new indranagar flyover to reach my old airport.If my personal vehicle,be it car or a 2 wheeler fails in the middle of the road,mypiece of advice would be to leave it there once for all and keep marching towards the nearest public transport stop.By godz grace if all goes well,I could prove myself as a green driver by allowing a pillion rider to hitch hike on me.Be it a car,handful of vehicle less souls travelling via my neighbourhood can be helped.But i should be prepared to reach home not earlier than 8.30PM.Again depending on my driving skills it might be another plus or minus 20 minutes.
Since no one have any opportunity to drive @ a speed more than 25-30 km/h the possibility of rash driving accidents are almost nil during these peak hours in a city like these.The irony of all i feel is that to reach mysore which is 3 hrs from Bangalore a friend of mine takes around 2.5 hrs which is sometimes the same time i take to reach my home in the same city.Howz that ?
P3:Public Transport- I must really be a least lucky soul if my mode of transport is going to be this.Apart from the fact that I cannot afford to travel by any other costlier mode of transport for a stretch of 28 kms,I have other resons to see myself at this least lucky position.If I or anyone above 5feet 5 inch happen to get a seat,the leg room will leave you feeling cursed.If you don't get a seat to sit,the travel experience will be even more worse.The conductors in this city are publicly given license to squeeze themselves amidst all possible female passengers of their choice as a means of pleasure and as a means of serving their duty.If there are any decent male passegers near me then I can expect to travel with some peace of mind until my destination.If you stars aren't aligned in a good positions for the day on the sky above,then I might actually end up having a really exhausting and a bad day cursing myself for reasons more than one.But there is a choice that I can make here.If there is a volvo service running across atleast half my destination,i can relax.Since only decent people board volvo in bangalore and that i haven't seen any volvo breaking down until now.Leg space is really ample even for the XL souls.The possibility of depending on BMTC or volvo arises out of another reason which i fell prey twice in these 2.5 years.Missing my office shuttle or cancellation of office shuttle or if my shuttle refuses to take the route that i travel, on any particular day.
If you are asking me the reason behind possibility of cancellation or shuttle refusing to take my route,there are valid reason for these i tell u.If a popular demigod celebrity is kiddnapped,or may be dies, this can truely happen to anyone.Also if the private cab associations decide to go in for a strike,as a helpless middleclass citizen,I or anyone can expect the same.For a small sum of money that I shell out for my commutation via the public transport,city's transport body gives me oppurtunity to practise patience under few nonsense situations as well.Possibility of stranding half way through a public transport cannot be totally ignored.But the good thing is i can manage to travel in another bus which comes the same way with just an autograph of the conductor.When i will reach home can never be guaranteed.Since there are few factors influencing it like the arrival of the bus.And again arrival of bus depends on whether or not is the driver in mood to drive the bus.Even if he does,the bus must be a good working condition for a good start.Even if the bus starts & arrivesmy pickup point there is no guarantee that it would have ample space for me to step in.Am not kidding.It really happens here.Last thing i would like to highlight abt the public transport in this city would be the fact that if someone wants to travel from point A ->B,one might actually have to reach point C which most of the time isn't on the way from A ->B.You will really be taken for a ride.This will speak for all the transport network planning done here in all the past years.
P4:Private cabs/3 wheeler - If money isn't a big deal for me,I will be a privileged customer to all these folks.False meter,demanding a whopping sum in addition to the actual price & a concept called 1 1/2 are things one needs to learn.Quite expensive but hassle free travel.But it terms of time this mode of transport is a no exception like the above.If you are a female traveller,better to be careful with the private cab drivers since the city is quite famous for crimes wrt this gender.Good thing however here is that if this transport fails on the road due to a puncture or a bad working condition of the vehicle,one might have to worry very less since the driver will make alternate arrangements or least expected to.I need not ideally worry about the route since the private vehicle drivers know each & every gully in the city of bang if there is a major hurdle on the way.Relatively I can save time if all goes well. If you think all this is enough for you to faint right away ,hold on i have some pleasant things in store.
P5:Copter Service - I always wish i belonged to the elite group of citizens who can afford more than what is essential for anything and everything in life.Not in all aspects though but the passion to own a copter is still alive in me.At least every alternate fortnight, if i get a free pickup or drop by a copter from HAL hanger to GV & back home,i will still be grateful to god.Hmm .. though itz one big never to come true dream,just visualize me boarding a beautiful black bird waiting for me near coffeeday junction in GV campus.Say I board it at the same assumed time 6.45 pm every evening.With the blades chopping heavily for few minutes i am sure I would reach HAL Hanger by 7PM.From there itz a matter of 6 minutes by walk to my home.How wonderful would that be.
P6:Awaiting Metro - For the hoping against hope souls,in a matter of few years this could just be their life line as well apart from the city's.But then itz just an anticipation.I am really skeptical about boarding the metro peacefully after seeing a video showing how easy it is to board a metro train in a country like china.Time will be a saving factor though.But from where to where is a big Q.To reach home from the metro station might really need to be worked out.Money spent in metro commutation should be worth it.Connectivity across all the places with in the city will be an ongoing project for another 2-3 decades i presume.
P7:Ferry Service - I am one soul who tend to visualize the impossible.Here is the impossible for your visual.If there comes a govt in Karnataka who sincerely takes an initiative in cleaning up the polluted rivers running across bang within a fixed deadline & if it is successful then from global village campus right next to ccd all I need to do is get down to the cleansed river and just reach nayandhahalli circle probably on the aromatic waters of bangalore.That will no doubt be a pollution free & one of the most pleasant mode of transport.Cost though am not sure at this point.Safety might also be of concern if itz going to be an open ferry.
If I find myself not wanting to opt any of the above options,I still have a single way left.Like working from home,I can actually choose to live from office.That will save a lot of money,free net/phone connection,video conferencing,AC,hot water,food at any time & will save a lot of rent money and opens a huge possibility to be productive at work .May be I should think again before making a new choice of work place.
