Where on road,can you experience the slogging traffic and at the same time the speed of a racing car!
Believe it or not, the Kolkata road transport offers you both the opportunities and that too at dirt cheap price. This city is full of experiences that you may not come across elsewhere!
If you detest speed and have ample time in hand to look out of the window to savour a glimpse of Kolkata street life, a tram is the best means. Don’t be surprised if the hand drawn rickshaw, typical of Kolkata streets, whizzes past you or if you are overtaken by someone walking briskly. You will beyond doubt still see people using this mode, not to forget mentioning it being jam-packed during the rush evening hours. Another similar experience is when stuck in a traffic snarl, then be it your hatchback, sedan or your SUV, all move at an equated pace.
And if speed gives you the high, then forget the bikes and the highway, just get on board the blue coloured Govt. transport buses or even the red private minibuses. I take the liberty to call them “Govt. Racing Cars” or should they be labeled the “Concorde on Road”! Either ways they give you similar experience. These are everyday experiences that I undergo on my way back home in the evening.
Another peculiar feature on the roads of Kolkata, is how men are very much at home with the fact that they ought to get on or down a bus while it is speeding down rather than coming to a complete halt, while on the contrary, for ladies it is ensured that they get on or get down the bus only when it comes to a complete halt.Yes and the so called "Ladies only" seats are meant only for ladies.This practice is followed so religiously in the blue buses that even if some reserved seats for ladies are vacant and men outnumber the seats meant for them, they would in most of the cases be obliged to remain standing rather than occupy them.
Now Kolkata is a very passenger friendly city, with bus stop being anywhere a prospective passenger is seen signaling his hand for the bus to stop. Be it in the midst of a busy road, at a cross road, in an empty street or with fleets of vehicles honking behind it. The first priority is picking up the passenger.
Here, one tells the conductor the amount for which one wants to get a ticket made rather than telling him the destination and letting him decide the amount. So I tell him to make me a ticket for four rupees rather than tell him that I want a ticket for Purto Bhawan.
While early morning, rickshaw drivers may bicker with you to pay the” change” when handing over the “big note”, you may always rely on the bus conductors to give you Rs 96 back without any complaints , when charging four rupees from a hundred rupee note.
Now shuttle is the best way to travel long distance, when you want to avoid the hefty charge of a reserved taxi for long distance and at the same time seek the comfort of a private vehicle at pretty low rates. For dropping me at the airport from my house, while I may have the option of hiring the yellow taxis omnipresent on Kolkata streets by paying Rs. 180, I may also opt for a Rs. 40 drive in a shuttle. For the uninitiated, the description” shuttle” may apply to any kind of a personal vehicle, be it a TATA INNOVA or Maruti 800 used as a public transport and with a non-yellow number plate. Now the only challenge for those new to this place is to differentiate a shuttle from a personal vehicle. Well, time teaches you but chances are, that in your initial attempts you may find yourself being stared awkwardly in the face by the passengers ,when you crane in your neck at the windscreen of a stationed Indica, and inquire if it was going to a particular place.
But one of my experiences that stands out and solicits a mention,is the cat and mouse chase of two JNNURN low floor buses. Forget Delhi’s blueline rash driving, I experienced a real life thrill when another JNNURM bus vroomed and scraped past our bus, just sparing a violent shattering of glasses at an uber cool speed! This action not just started a reaction of colourful Bengali expletives from driver, conductor and passengers alike but also drove the driver to take corrective action and not let the culprit get ahead of him. So as our overtaker halted ahead to pick up passengers, our bus driver ran full throttle to show the other who the leader was. Determined not to be defeated, the speeding driver found the easy way out than to step up gas. He just steered his bus right into the middle of the path of our bus to prevent him from surging ahead causing our bus to come to a shuddering halt. This was not to be forgiven by our bus driver who now decided that the culprit should be brought to his senses after dragging him out of the bus. As both the driver and conductor shouted at him daring him to step out hoping to teach a lesson, the man realized that the only way out of getting thrashed publicly was to speed away, and so he did. But this was not destined to pass away so easily. So our driver decided to intercept his path and catch hold of him, even if it meant speeding at teeth-jarring speed on the potholed roads , driving on the road parallel to the other bus even if it was meant for opposite way traffic and above all with a busload of dumbstruck passengers. While this continued for about a minute and ended with the defeat of our bus driver, the disgusted driver ordered all the passengers to get down the bus as it would go no further. The aghast passengers were in no condition to argue and just got down all the while surprised that they managed to stay alive.
Well full of surprises, pleasant or unpleasant, but a drive on the Kolkata road is an experience in itself !
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