The price for konduskar was marginally lower than vrl travels but higher than ksrtc as is the case most of the times. The pickup point was kalasipalyam in the heart of bangalore. The bus was due at 7pm. I had lots of luggage with me hence going back and forth through the lanes of kalasipalyam wasnt a very easy effort. In a non-descript little room near the entrance of kalasipalyam bus stand the signboard read as the one i was looking for. Heaving a sigh of relief, i seated myself in the chair.
The bus arrived, surprisingly, on time. After the sharma experience i was pleasantly surprised. Well, at least the beginning was on a good note. I entered the bus and took my window seat. The bus started in a few minutes. It was empty, most of it. But it was good to see that the seats looked decent enough to be called clean by other volvo standards. The aisle was also clean. In no time the bus was making a getaway out of bangalore via KR circle, then rajaji nagar and later yeshwantpur station.
The bus looked in good condition. You could feel the power of the B7R engine putting that awesome torque on the wheels. The sudden thrust backwards on the application of slight acceleration felt good. But then i forgot we still were in bangalore and bangalore's traffic doesn't care who is going where; it just manifests itself in almost every traffic corner or signal. Finally after getting a moveon the bus went into cruise mode. It was movie time and guess what, it was a lucky day. Not for me, but for the actors, directors and producers of the film 'jashn'. To fully comprehend why i am saying this just go and read any review. Mind you i am not asking you to watch the film cos you would sue me for the mental agony caused.
I referred to the luck part because here we were, all the passengers i mean, traveling in a bus and helpless enough to watch any movie that would be shown. And among all the movies this is the movies that is selected. Ok..it may not be the worst film ever made but you know a bad movie when you see it.
So after the movie it was dreaming time. Since the seat beside me was empty i was more than happy to sleep occupying both the seats. The ocassional bump reminded me we were still in karnataka. Nothing against the karnataka government but the guys haven't developed the northern part of karnataka as good if not better than south karnataka. The bus, or any other vehicle for that matter, comes to a grinding halt every hundred metres as the condition of the road is so bad. There are frequent detours that cause delays. hats off to the travels guys who take it in their stride.
Morning came early as we touched kolhapur at around 5:30 am itself. It was just a filling station somewhere outside of kolhapur. Elated i stepped down from the bus and took the chilly air in and felt the somewhat familiar scent of the black soil i had played in my village. Hearing the familiar village dialect instantly made me feel i am home. Even at that odd hour and half awake i thought of how language has a binding effect.
Since this was a konduskar bus it detoured and entered the city of kolhapur. It was the first time i saw, even though from the confines and comfort of the bus, the historical city of shahu maharaj. The all to familiar sight of farmers dressed in the traditional 'bandi', 'dhotar', 'pheta' leading their cattle to graze instantly made me feel warm at heart. This is what makes India what it is. Away from the blinking screens of computers in AC offices and MNC office culture was this India. The only thing that matters to this india is the rain if i can take a few liberties. Barring the government decision on the prices of foodgrains nothing interests this india more. Although i may have generalised to the point of criminal ignorance; but the fact remains it another India in contrast to the popular perception of people outside india and for some in India too.
I got time to think all this since the bus reached kolhapur bus stand at 7:00 am it didnt move till 7:45 am. No reasons given whatsoever. So the journey continued towards next destinations on the way karad and subsequently satara. They were left behind in a few hours and pune beaconed at 170 odd kms. We did reach pune at 10:30 am.
Till now everything was going to plan. I was already looking ahead at making it for lunch to mumbai when a few surprises were made known to us. The bus was not going to go all the way to mumbai. There was a change of bus in Pune and the actual bus was expected at 11am in pune. Pune at that time was in full grip of swine flu and you could see people wearing masks. I braced myself, and hoping everything would be fine sat at the bus operators office waiting for the bus.
The bus arranged was a Neeta Volvo and by the looks of it, had taken part in the vietnam war. The front mirrors were broken, the color had worn off, the window sealings were hanging about. On entering it was a similar sight too. torn seat covers, broken seat arm rests, filthy seats and cracked windows. Me along with three others from the earlier bus cursed our luck and hoped this piece of junk makes it to mumbai.
Although the bus was almost full, the bus operators are dedicated to making use of the last available inch in the bus and to do it they have a simple formula. just wait for the customer till he arrives. Meandering through the streets of Pune was all the bus did for the next hour and a half. Finally i saw a semblance of NH4 and heaved a sigh of relief. We were back on track finally!
The picture on the left is the place near kolhapur where we stopped for breakfast. It was here that i had 'pohe'.
One of the better shots i took on my mobile camera on NH4. I agree a better camera is needed to do justice to the shot.
Great valley view.
The bus reached panvel at around 1:30 pm and vashi at sometime later.
