Many modes, many places

The blogger travels by road, rail and air to find that each offers a different experience

It has been an unusual fortnight because of the many modes of travel I used--train, bus and plane-- in quick succession to go to various parts of India. Quite reluctantly when I caught a Volvo from Himachal Bhavan in Delhi on a wintry morning, I just wanted to shut my eyes and sleep. It had to be a bus because it was too late to get a confirmed reservation on a fast train.

To my surprise, I soon got into the rhythm of travelling in a bus for over six hours. The regulars to Shimla knew exactly where the bus would halt and for how long, so it was useful to talk to the neighbour,  whom I had avoided during the first hour after boarding. After a while, he started volunteering information on the  stopovers, eating joints on the way,  and even on Chandigarh where I was headed. When the conductor enquired where in Chandigarh I wanted to get down and I offered a vague reply, at least five passengers were at help telling me the best option. Incidentally, I was the only one getting off at Chandigarh while the rest were going to the hills.

But there were still many hours to go before we were to hit the Chandigarh road. And movies, alternating between a Bollywood thriller and a Punjabi comedy, kept the audience in the bus suitably entertained. Bollywood is fine, but I sheepishly admit I enjoyed the Punjabi slapstick to the hilt though I have no more than a very basic familiarity with the language of that region. I was laughing with all the others in the bus when the characters in the movie were so messily caught up in a comic situation leading to identity mix-up. The fine nuances of the language somehow ceased to matter. Travel started feeling good and light.

Suddenly everyone was restless. The sister-brother duo, sitting before me and headed to their boarding schools, announced it was Mirchi time. Mirchi was the main restaurant at that Ambala stop  while there were other fast food joints and pickle shops around it. Soon, I was at the Tribune Chowk in Chandigarh from where I was instructed by my fellow passengers to take an autorickshaw to my hotel.

Return from Chandigarh to Delhi was by Shatabdi, and I was wondering whether it would be as entertaining as the bus journey. Not quite. But it was adventurous in a different way. I had to get on to the train very quickly as it stopped there for less than five minutes. In my mind I was already thinking of ways to reach home if I missed getting on to the train. Thankfully, I made it, running from one door to another, remembering scenes from 'Jab We Met’. Apart from the regular supply of food and beverages, loud talk across seats and rows turned out to be the only source of distraction and entertainment on this leg of journey. There was no Mirchi on the way, nor any Punjabi masala movie.                        

Within days, it was another visit, to another part of the country. This time I was flying, but in a narrow-bodied plane with a very old-school look and feel about it. The best was Abba’s 'Dancing Queen’ greeting the passengers as they settled into their seats. Flying lower than their wide-bodied counterparts, the view of the cities from the sky as the flight took off and landed was breathtaking.

On the way back, almost from the middle of the country, it was a never-before airport experience. Just as I entered the airport, an executive of the so-called budget airline I was flying started walking along, asking my seat preference. “Anything is ok,” I said. “Window,” he asked. “That’s fine,” I said. “Would you like the front row window,” he asked. “Alright,” I said. To that, he said, “you will be charged additional for that seat.” I told him curtly, “I don’t want to pay anything extra for any seat.” He left me, but not before giving me a piece of paper, which said I could even book the seat next to me if I wanted for a discounted tariff. Ironically, on that flight every third seat was vacant and most passengers ended up with two  each, of course without paying anything extra!!