Reaching your workplace -- interesting travelogues!

[Shakthiprabha.]

jaiganesh,

Well, writing about these in violence against women or anyother thread wont stop such nonsense. would it?

Anyway thx querida and others who did understand the pain I was trying to portray. I am unable to verbally say so many things explicitly for the fear, that it may turn indecent discussions.

Whenever I remember or try to explain about such things, I cant but CONTROL MY WILD TEMPER else, I am afraid I would go violent in hurting them with my words.

Like I said, 13 year old, faces it, has impact, and believe me, IT TAKES LONG LONG LONG TIME, for the scar to heal(it does not heal, just minimises).

Let me put it unashamedly, my parents were not aware of such traumas (even if they know, autos or other things were not affordable for that long a distance) but for a long long time, I DETESTED ANY MAN touch, even as simple as a HANDSHAKE. IT MADE ME PUKE.

It takes long time, to come out of it, esp when I never took any special guidance, or did not even share it with anyone except friends(who also went thro the same).

jaiganesh,

I am not sure of north chennai, but believe me OUR BUS always used to be tilting to one side, full like a pregnant lady, and we need not clutch on to any bar, cause it would be jam packed, that no one can fall. The smell, sweat, breathlessness, cheap touches...........SICK ....

THATS ALL I CAN SAY. I am afraid, the more I write, I may lose my temper drastically. So lemme just stop here. Thanks for listening

May be not a repetition of this messege, but, I do have one more thign to say in 'violence against women'.

[jaiganes]

Shakthi!!
never underestimate the power of the hub!
At some corner of this world if someone reforms, thats more than enough. As a guy, when travelling in crowded buses, all I was conscious about was my wallet. Whether it is there or not. I knew for a fact that the perverted section among 'Indian Males' is pretty crowded one. But the extent of corruption I used to think was not that much. From your posts and that of scorpio,I realise that it takes just one per bus isn't it? Add to this mix of perverted people the hanging romeos who want to simply look at all ladies in the ladies section and display their macho style of hanging from footboard, I can only begin to imagine how horrible travelling to workplace/college/school would it be for any female in India. Also add the males who don't believe in reservations for women even in buses!!! I was witness to a big fight in 29C between an old woman and a young man in 20s over the seat reserved for ladies. The conductor guy was very silent and with no one to support, the old lady gutsily went on with it till she secured her right!! I understand that not all women can afford to lose their energy for a seat. Added to that the old lady can afford to do it coz of her age. If it were any younger woman, then I cannot imagine the line of argument the guy would have taken.

[Cinefan]

As guys,I think we will never understand the plight of women travelling by buses/trains.Sometimes my wife was forced to take a bus to office(In Bommasandra,17 kms from house)when she missed her company van or when she had to stay back late&everytime she came back with a bitter experience.She had a cycle to school&a two wheeler to college&her first two jobs,so this experience was new to her.She dreaded taking the bus which meant that she tried her level best to go/come by company van.There have been times when I have dropped&picked her up.Now of course she uses a four wheeler.My cousin who uses the bus to college has got numbed to indecent behaviour.She doesn't travel by certain buses&despite care being taken,if someone tries to be cheap,she just shrugs it&moves away.it's a shame that over population,bad infrastructure&perverted minds are taking away the joy of a bus ride.No wonder every day so many two/four wheelers are being registered.

[Shakthiprabha.]

//If it were any younger woman, then I cannot imagine the line of argument the guy would have taken.//

oh u bet!

The very COMMON ARGUMENT we used to get, if we ask any man who is rubbing against a woman, is "nee enna pathiniya!"

I remmeber a lady who answered back saying

"I may or may not be a paththini, BUT I DONT LIKE U RUBBING AGAINST ME"

WOWWW WHAT A WAY TO GIVE BACK! (though I would have rather had her, slap that guy tight till he faints! X()

cinefan,

I assume here the seating arrangments in blore is much better, with clear marking of men and women. Well, its not that we dont have bitter exp otherwise (esp with some women!....the way they talk back.....sheesh god!)

[Cinefan]

Shakthi,
When has seating arrangements acted as a deterrent?Also with the kind of population here&pressure on bus services it's unlikely that you will get a seat in peak hours(unless you start from the terminus).Standing women in a bus load of people is the time when perverts start their work right?The problem is that the majority of such people are actually educated/cultured !.This clearly shows education does nothing to improve the mindset of people.

[Sandeep]

A CRAZY IDEA

How about banning motor vehicles inside city boundary (assuming the city has transport problem). The only mode of transport will be Bycycles

Adv.
1) No Polution.
2) Economical.
3) Min injury out of accidents.
4) Healthy
5) Minimum Traffic problems.

This is a crazy idea but note Amsterdam city is a motor free city.

[jaiganes]

And how do the physically challenged and senior citizens go around?
Getting back to the topic, I had a friend who used to travel from Thiruvallur to Perambur everyday to school. He did this for about 5 years from his 5th standard to the 10th standard. Since the train timings were such that he always came to school 30 minutes late. The school authorities gave whole load of punctuality crap initially. His parents had long discussions with school authorities and convinced them. But we used to feel bad for him as he would come late and leave as soon as the school finishes while we would be having extended PT periods. Once my father got transferred to thiruvallur, we would go with him to Thiruvallur on saturdays. The broad gauge travel was fun as we got to see a whole lot of different people. A group of communists discussing some problem, a group of pentacostal christians singing songs and a whole cross section of the society thinking, talking and moving. The journey on the metre gauge (no longer there ) is more colourful more noisy and at peak hours all the issues discussed earlier also crop up. But the stations on the line from Beach to tambaram are more vibrant and the journey is more entertaining compared to the relatively sober central to Thiruvallur route. Regarding the line from central to gummidipoondi which I have seen to be very busy, dont have much info as I haven't travelled in the route. I hope someone can post regarding that route.

[jaiganes]

I personally preferred to use the electric train to that of pallavan bus, if travelling by train option was available. Somehow I felt that train journey was less tiring. Travel wise I felt that Hong kong had the best infrastructure and transit systems better than any western city. The centralised "Octopus" card system for transit and the chance of travelling by tube rail, ferry, bus and the old fashined tram made travelling in Hong kong a joyful experience!

[Hemant Trived1]

Travelling to work place is something that's very interesting topic.

If I had known in advance that my last work in California is going to involve four and half hours of journey by walk,bus, bart, bus and bus and walk in that sequence, I would never have accepted GC in first place.

When I landed a job in Livermore Shiva Vishnu Temple , I was not at all amused as I knew it was going to be a marathon journey everyday.
I used to wake up at 4.30 am, get ready by 5.20 am, walk two furlongs to the bus stand, catch the bus of 5.35 to Bart station at San Leandro.
Catch 6. 11 train to Pleasanton. Run to bus stand again, catch bus number 10 and go to Springtown bus terminus. Wait for 20 minutes there and catch the bus going to Livermore Shiva Vishnu Temple . get down at bus stand and walk tothe Temple.I used to reach by 8.45 am
Evening was the reverse order.starting at 5.20 pm. reach home by 7.30 pm.

If it were not for those interesting characters I met on buses and trains, it would have been very difficult .

There was this interesting afro-american driver who became my pal . He would wait for me at Pleasanton if I was delayed a bit. Another old American lady bus driver who used to drive Springtown bus, also waited for me.
Then there was a Philipino lady who could not speak any language except Philipino lingo.. She would give a very warm smile . Then there was a crazy forty something American who would always pick his nose every two minutes, look at his watch, play with the paper inserted in his ring and lick the finger which was scavanging the nose. It was really aweful.
There was one mason/painter who used to run to the liquor store in the evening at springtown bus terminus and polish off a beer before boarding the bart.

There was this paraphlegic Indian girl Rebecca born in Delhi but was adopted by American couple . She was all smiles and talked to me about Delhi . She used to bring her infant son in a pram.
She would travel from Springtown to Pleasonton.

There was one lady who almost daily asked for loose change as she used to have none for the bus and always forgot to pay back.
Last interesting person used to come to Pleasanton bart station in the evenings.
He was totally mad but used to paint beautifully.
Daily he would select a subject and start drawing on any piece of paper he could lay his hands on and then after sometime, go away.

Thus these people made my journey interesting.

[Querida]

i don't know how many countless hours i spend waiting at the bus stop....what i usually end up doing is walking to the fourth stop if i'm early and if not stand at my bus stop....and sing/hum all the songs i can think of until of course someone comes by...but usually the bus stop (31) near my house is hardly ever crowded...most days i am there alone..the fourth stop is a bit more crowded...there is tops only ten people who on this bus and it always...always comes late or between bus scheduled times it use to be apart of a longer more frequently used route(13)....and even then had problems with time...but most of the time it was alright. after this bus(1) i have to take another to go to uni...this one i like for different reasons it is a busy route so always punctual and gets there fast...the only way i have facilitated my way home(evening travel is always delayed) is taking alternative routes...it's odd there is a bus(1C-E) that takes to a stop and then its connecting bus(1 -W) takes me back over the same route and then some and i have longer distance to walk home but i get there earlier than when taking the normal bus! (i use this route on nice sunny days)

Yes one of the things i do really like is meeting people on the bus...especially if they have a cute baby or smile nicely or are just friendly...some ppl just stare and stare and leave you feeling really uncomfortable..and sometimes we have such good conversation that your stop seems to come to soon... the elderly always have so much to tell...always later they say that it was nice to talk to you...not many kids your age consider talking to us... but most of the time i love walking!