Home sweet home - II

[Hyderabad-Kurnool-Bangalore-Mysore-Dhimbam-Sathy-Annur-Mettupalayam-Seeliyur]

Not all things work out as we think. Take my latest journey to home for example. I told you that I am going to travel by APSRTC Garuda to Bangalore, but I ended up in a KSRTC Airavath. Thanks to Janani, who gave me the news about this Volvo bus leaving MGBS, Imliban at 7.15pm. I cancelled the Garuda ticket, as:
1. I got a bus with a promised reaching time of 5.30am, leaving earlier than Garuda.
2. I got a company in Janani.
3. It costs a 50Rs lesser than Garuda.

I never thought that I am setting off for a new travel experience, when I tendered the exact fare at the KSRTC counter in Imliban!

On 10th Dec., 6pm sharp, we took an auto to MGBS, Imliban from my apartments. May be a little early for a 7.15pm schedule, but my experience of missing Ramasamy's train remained fresh in memory - no risks to be taken in Hyderabad. The bus came to the stands around 7pm.

After pushing the only baggage into the spacious compartment in the side, I set foot into the bus. The first thing I noticed about the bus was that it is not a semi sleeper! Will it be worth the money then? I had to wait for the answer. The next point to be noted is that the conductor is trying to attract passengers like an ordinary route bus. Occupancy was not even 50%. KSRTC needs to do something drastic!

Janani's seat is #4 and mine #12. I asked the conductor, if #3 is occupied. He asked me to leave seat #3, if anybody of the fairer sex happen to board the bus, otherwise no problem. There was no other feminine gender to be seen in the bus. Seat #3 is the most ideal seat for a Volvo journey, especially for road lovers like me. It gives the total comfort of a passenger seat while giving you a complete view of the road as well as the pilot panel. Need not tell you that I prayed that no other woman boarded the bus! ( granted ;-)).

Till we reached Mehboobnagar, where the bus halted for dinner, we were left to the mercy of a Govinda film, which was totally unpalatable. Also to my horror(!) all those sitting near our seats were Tamil aware and I was not able to make my *class* of comments. Out of frustration I managed one or two, only to receive punches from Janani. The idlis and the tomato-onion chutney combo, added more flavour to the already exciting journey. Thanks to my cook maid!

The plush interiors were really providing good comfort and the Volvo engineering was proving itself again and again as the driver maintained a constant 80+ speed. Instances where a Volvo makes a difference is:
1. When slowing down, the impact is totally hidden from the passengers. In the whole journey of 11hrs and 565kms, once and only once was there a jerk due to a sudden brake!
2. While taking a bend, everyone knows how the centripetal(centrifugal?) force pulls the passengers towards one side - it is very minimized in this vehicle; may be because of the height and the biiig wheel base.
3. Being without the engine noise, even at the top RPM of any gear. There is a mild grin...just a grin!
4. When it unleashes its sheer power! It hardly takes any time reaching 100kmph, starting from zero. In our normal vehicles, during overtaking, if there is an obstacle from the opposite, we tend to avoid the obstacle by slowing down. Had you been to such night trips you would have experienced the nuisance of slow moving trucks and lorries. But Volvo avoids such obstacles by increasing the speed and completing the overtake in a lesser time! It is again driver-dependent, but still is possible only with such a powerful engine. Hope our Leyland people will soon introduce their Volvo equivalent, if they have any idea of staying in the luxury market.

The NH7 was not completely 4-laned and particularly this HYD-BLR stretch is still pending. But all those never mattered to our driver as he was racing against time. But whenever he spotted a distant headlight in the opposite direction he was slowing below the necessary limit(I thought!!!).
I called up Pradeep around 12am to wish him a very happy b'day. Not able repay his bumps!!

The highlight of the journey was the P.Shuseela songs played by the driver after shutting down the nonsense movie. I was wondering as what was happening! The bus belongs to the Karnataka Govt and the trip was from Telugu desam to the Kannada capital. But where from did Tamil come? I was really thrilled. I dont remember if Janani was awake to enjoy, what I call, the "thaemadhura(th) thamizhosai"(honey like Tamil). It was a 90 minutes cassette and the bus reached Kurnool town, when it ended. "Maalai pozhudhin mayakkathilae naan kanavu kandaen thozhi!"...wow...heaven!!!(reminded about Antoji's 'heaven').

All this time the conductor was sitting on the other side of the front panel and as Kurnool passed by, he went back for a small nap. Well, what else was I waiting for? I took his seat immediately and the driver had no objection. Another 100kms and the sheer power with which the bus gulps the never ending road gave me sheer pleasure. I was overhearing the driver's conversation a little while ago and noted down this point - Volvo drivers are getting 15K to 20K starting salary! Man, it means, "karumbu thinna kooli"! Jealousy - was what I felt.

I decided to give sleep some chance. It was around 2am. When I woke up, it was 4.30am. And Bangalore is still 100kms away. I was a little frustrated. Did the driver slow down in the middle? Will he make it before the promised 5.30am? Will he keep an average of 100kmph? Will I be able to get the Inter-City express at 6.15am? The drivers intentions gave me hopes, as he was crossing the 120kmph often and the roads were also totally deserted. Janani was still in deep sleep and showed no interest in the world of roads, speeding buses, gutsy drivers, nuisance lorries, overtakes and speedometers. That is not her world anyway.

When it is a 50km from BLR, God(Rams, read it as 'destiny') came into the picture, by bringing some fog and mist to the play. Well, u know what to expect! Creep at 20kmph. Not even 1m of the road is visible going forward. No chance of speeding up. Reached BLR at 6.45am. This is not the first time I am getting disappointed in a Volvo bus (http://dparthi.blogspot.com/2004/12/home-sweet-home.html). But this time I had a dependency - the train - but no use of musing over it! Sakthi came to pick Janani up at the BLR bus stand and after bidding goodbye to them, I went on a search for a Coimbatore bound bus. Here again I had a big dilemma, whether to choose the Salem via(Dad will be pleased) or the Mysore via(My heart lies there). I came across the Mysore stand first and there was one semi sleeper ready to leave to Mysore. Quick calculations: 3 hrs to Mysore, 5 hrs to Coimbatore(CBE) - and I should be able to make up with the train timing! Also I can sleep(??!!) for 3 hrs in this semisleeper. I slept for 1hr, but then, as I got an N number of phone calls, asking me if have made it to the train, I gave up sleeping! I was feeling really proud of my friends, who were so concerned about me! Also thanks to Reliance for keeping me connected.

Breakfast at Mandya. But without brushing the teeth!

The bus reached Mysore at 10am. One of the best things about this journey was the work in progress for the BLR-Mysore 4 lane project. It is taking place along the entire stretch of 120kms and sure will get completed when I undertake my next expedition.

Mysore was cool. I love that place. But I had no time to get senti there. The KSRTC bus bound for Coimbatore was leaving in a few minutes(10.15am). I got the seat behind the driver. (again the most ideal seat!). I was informed that the bus will reach Sathy at 2.15pm and Annur 2.55pm. Now I was in a dilemma as to get down at Sathy or Annur. I remembered Pavi, my sister, telling me that Annur via is the fastest way to reach Mettupalayam(MTP). The ticket costed 62Rs.

The road was initially looking good. It was the Mysore-Calicut NH212. But our vehicle left the NH at Nanjangud towards Chamrajnagar, and this was the worst stretch in my entire journey. Also the bus got crowded beyond limit. But after Chamrajnagar, we joined the Bangalore-Sathy-Coimbatore-Dindigul NH209, the Tamilnadu side of which I had already experimented and seeing for the first time its Karnataka face! It started with the paddy fields first, with their welcome green color and ended into the forests of the Eastern ghats. Green green and more green...I unnecessarily got reminded about Veerappan.

The next stop was at Hassanur for lunch and I sent inside a plate of biriyani. Then as the bus descended down the 27 hairpin bends of the Dhimbam Ghat Road, I was filled with ecstasy. The sight of my state - and that too a bird's eye view made my hair stand still for a moment. Last time I made to here was when I came to see Pavi. Instead of having to wait for 3 hrs before her college got over, I made a short trip from Sathy to Dhimbam - one cup of chaaya - back to Sathy in time for her!

Most often people get deceived by the appearnce of a bus...I call those KSRTC buses as "dog vehicles" when I happen to see them at CBE bus stand. But only these ones keep their promises all the time. Last time it was the Kerala bus from Trivandrum to Thrissur and this time it is its Karnataka counterpart! The bus reached Annur exactly at 2.55pm.

Even as I got down, I got a glimpse of a MTP bound bus starting. Had to catch it on the run!

I was there at MTP right in time for the 4pm 4A/3D bus which will leave to my village. As usual local trips have some pleasant faces to greet and some unpleasant ones to regret! Life is a mixture of both and you can learn a lot from these bus journeys! Only if you are observant enough!

Reached home by 5pm. Had I caught the train, I would have come here by 3pm. Not a big loss!

Back home. Back to the warmth of my parents. Back to that rustic heaven, that was my world for a 20 years; that shared my dreams; that shaped my character!

A short summary of my trip could be like this: ( Srinikutty, these are not XML tags)
Hyderabad<--7.15pm, KSRTC Volvo, Rs506, 6.45am-->Bangalore
Bangalore<--7.00am, KSRTC Semisleeper, Rs104, 10.00am-->Mysore
Mysore<--10.15am, KSRTC InterState, Rs62, 2.55pm-->Annur
Annur<--2.56pm, TNSTC MTP-Karur, Rs6, 3.25pm-->Mettupalayam
Mettupalayam<--4.00pm, TNSTC 4A/3D, Rs5, 5.00pm-->TDG Colony, Seeliyur