मिनिबस - सीट कम, सवारी ज्यादा - Journey in a Smalltown in a Minibus

मिनिबस खड़ी थी सड़क के बीचों बीच, सवारियों के इन्तेजार में | ये मिनिबस का भी एक जूनियर वर्ज़न था, ट्रेडिशनल पीला रंग, गाडी के पीछे "हनी-बनी-ते-मनी दी मोटर" लिखा हुआ था काले रंग में, और बस के आगे लिखा था "दिलजले" | बस का रूट देखा तो बस वहीँ जा रही थी जहाँ मुझे जाना था, नवोदय स्कूल | किस्मत से मेरी डेस्टिनेशन आखिरी डेस्टिनेशन थी नहीं तो बस ऐसे ऐसे रह्समायी गाँवों और रास्तों से होके जाती है की आदमी गुम हो जाए पर मंजिल तक न पहुंचे | हमीरपुर डिस्ट्रिक्ट की ख़ास बात ये है की यहाँ सड़कों का मायाजाल है, सबसे ज्यादा घनत्व है यहाँ सड़कों का पूरे राज्य में [रोड डेन्सिटी] और ऊपर से मुख मंत्री का गृह नगर | किसी भी रोड पे गाडी दाल दो, अवाहदेवी या भोरंज निकल जाती है वो सड़क और हर एक गाँव के लिए सड़क है |

अपनी मोटर-साईकिल से उतरते ही मैं बस में घुस गया और मुझे खिड़की वाली सीट मिल गयी , जो की अक्सर होता नहीं है | गाँवों की बसों में खिड़की वाली सीट मिलना बड़ी मेहनत-मशक्कत का काम है | अख़बार, झोले, सब्जी के लिफाफे रखके लोग अपनी सीट मार्क कर लेते हैं, आप खाली समझ के बैठ जाओगे और बस चलने से पहले ही सीट का मालिक आ धमकेगा |

गाँव की बसों में ट्रेडिशनल सी-ऑफ  करने के तरीके नहीं चलते कि जब तक बस नहीं जाती खड़े रहो और बस छूटने पे टाटा-बाय करो, ये बसें जन्म-जन्मों तक खड़ी रह सकती हैं, सवारियों के इन्तेजार में, हीर-राँझा का प्यार कम पड़ जाता है कई बार, नहीं चलेंगी तो नहीं चलेंगी, इसलिए मेरा दोस्त मुझे छोड़ के निकल लिया | बस के कंडक्टर मेनेजमेंट गुरुओं को भी पानी पिला देने वाले पैंतरे  इस्तेमाल करते हैं सवारियां "ढ़ोने" के लिए इस करके बसें लाश कि तरह खड़ी रहती हैं |

खैर बस अगले ४५ मिनट तक वहीँ खड़ी रही, निर्जीव और स्थिर| फिर थोड़ी देर बाद बस का कंडक्टर आया , थोड़ी देर मतलब ४५ मिनट बाद , पर बस का कंडक्टर और अस्सिटेंट  कंडक्टर अभी तक सीन में नहीं थे | गाँव की बसों में अस्सिस्टेंट कंडक्टर  होते हैं , आलमोस्ट  सब बसों में क्यूंकि अक्सर बसों में भीड़  बेतहाशा हो जाती है और एक कंडक्टर सब सवारियों को मैनेज नहीं कर पता है , तो सवारियों में से ही कोई स्कूल या कालेज जाने वाला नौजवान , असिस्टेंट कंडक्टर का रोल प्ले करता है | इसके निम्नलिखित  फायदे हैं:

अ) लड़की पटाने में सुविधा होती है, लड़की को रोज सीट दिलवा दो तो लड़की पटने  के चांसेज बढ़ जाते हैं
ब) कंडक्टर से दोस्ती हो जाती है, कंडक्टर गाँवों/छोटे शहरों में बहुत काम की चीज़ होती है
स) किराया नहीं लगता

फिर पूरे एक घंटे खड़े रहने के बाद और "अगम कुमार निगम"   के दर्द भरे गीत सुनने के बाद बस में जान आई, सवारियों को ज्यादा फरक नहीं पड़ा, पर मेरी रुकी हुई धड़कन एक बार फिर चल पड़ी, बस थोड़ी देर और रुकी रहती तो मैं १२ किलोमीटर कि यात्रा पैदल ही तय कर लेता | कंडक्टर ने १०-२० लोगों को छत का रुख करने को कहा और खुद गुटका चबाता हुआ [राह चलते] लोगों से गप्पें मारता हुआ बस को चलने का आदेश दिया | रविवार के दिन बसें कम होती हैं, और सवारियां इकठी हो हो के अथाह हो आती हैं, तो बस के अन्दर पूरा कुम्भ का मेला लगा हुआ था, और मेरे बगल में बैठी हुई आंटी मजे से मूंगफली खा रही थी और छिलके बस में ही फेंक रही थी , एकदम आराम से, भीड़ भड़क्के से कोई फरक नहीं पड़ा उसको| मूंगफली मुहं में और छिलका बस के अन्दर, एकदम अचूक निशाना |

Image Source: Tribune India

खैर बस चली, धीरे धीरे, मेरी परेशानी का लेवल बढ़ता चला गया और सवारियां उतरती चढ़ती चली गयीं, पांच उतरती थी, दस चढ़ती थी, भीड़ ख़तम होने का नाम नहीं लेती थी| पूरी बस में मुझे छोड़ के कोई भी विचलित नहीं था बस की देरी को लेकर के, उनके लिए रोज का काम था, उनके लिए इन्तेजार करना ही जीवन है और मेरे लिए तेज़ भागना, जल्दी जल्दी, सब कुछ जल्दी चाहिए, बस एकदम से| वहां जिंदगी बहुत धीमे से चलती है गाँव में| धीरे धीरे गाँव बदल रहे हैं, जमीन है पर खेती नहीं है क्यूकी अब खेती नहीं कोई करना चाहता, कुछ आई.आई.एम् और आई.आई.टी वाले कहते हैं कि खेती करेंगे पढ़ लिख के पर  बाकी सबको शेहेर जाना है| मेरा एक दोस्त है आई.आई.एम् लखनऊ का , कहता है गाय पालेगा, खेती करेगा, भाई अच्छी बात है, बहुत अच्छी बात है, खेती नहीं करेगा तो शेहेर वाले तो कहीं के नहीं रहेंगे, अब पहाड़ों में हरियाली न रही तो काहे के पहाड़? पूरे डेढ़ घंटा गाँव गाँव में घूमने के बाद मैंने पांच किलोमीटर का सफ़र तय किया, अब मैं भी एक गाँव वाला हो चुका था, कोई जल्दी नहीं, कम से कम एक बस तो है , पैदल चलने से तो वही अच्छा है, यही  संतुष्टि का भाव लिए उतर गया मैं |

 मैं भी एक गाँव में ही रहता हूँ सुंदरनगर में , आप भी एक गाँव से ही आये हैं, आज दिल्ली, मुंबई, गुडगाँव में हैं, पर घर आपका भी गाँव में ही है, एक छोटा सा गाँव, जहाँ आज भी वही मिनी बस चलती है, कम सीटें और ज्यादा सवारी के साथ| वहां बसों का इन्तेजार  करना एक जरुरत है , आएगी तो आएगी नहीं तो पैदल चलो| मंडी, काँगड़ा, हमीरपुर, सोलन, कुल्लू, शिमला, सब जगह यही मिनिबस चलती है, वही पीला रंग, वही शेर-ओ-शायरी , वही दिलजले ड्राइवर, और वही घिसे-पिटे से रूट |

पर कभी घर आओ "एक हफ्ते" कि छुट्टी पे तो बैठना इस मिनिबस में, मजा आएगा |

Tour Diary -Trip to Spiti Valley-Day Two

Day Zero
Day One

One more night at the rest house and we were all charged up to move towards the Snow Deserts of the Spiti Valley. We all underestimated the natural beauty of the Spiti Valley and what unfolded in front of us was nothing less than a miracle, as we survived on that rough terrain on the bloody Maruti of ours. Actually taking a Maruti towards Kaza is inhuman, sadistic and brutal, for the vehicle obviously.

One more time, we found ourselves at Koksar, eating the Paranthas [परांठा] and stuffing our bags with chocolates, biscuits and water. Gramphu [ग्राम्फु] was the first place that looked like a village.

.Gramphu.

For the next 17 kilometers we kept looking at each other because things were complicated and difficult. JP decided to sit on the front seat with the driver and he became our permanent assistant. As the road was full of stones, he kept saying 'एक ऊपर , एक नीचे ', which none of us could understand, initially. All he wanted to say was to keep one side of the vehicle on the top of the stones and other on the safe side to keep things safe and smooth. However, maintaining 'एक ऊपर, एक नीचे' approach was very difficult and we kept fighting, abusing and scolding each other until we reached Chattru.

Just an example: I was driving, JP was sitting besides me and we saw a pile of stones on the road, he shouted 'ऊपर से, ऊपर से' and I took those stones directly below the vehicle. I thought he will praise me for it and he started scolding me because he meant to take the one side of car above them and not the central bisection of the stones. The car became a drum and we could hear the sonorous musical tone inside the car. :)

After 17 kilometers of swimming, pushing and walking [ there was little bit of driving too], we reached Chattru. We inquired about the road ahead and all people could do was look at our vehicle and tell us that road is OK. Next destination was Chota Dara [छोटा दड़ा] and road between Chota Dara and Chattru was horrible and it felt nothing less than sliding on pointed sharp stones in a cloth less form. We almost gave up after that, the car moved at a speed of 12KM per hour and it took 50 minutes to cover 10 kilometers. The sight of river Chandra on one side in the backdrop of the Great Himalayas was breathtaking. The word cold desert actually made sense there as all we could see was snow, water and stones. The sight of another village like place made us happy. The place was Batal [बातल] and it was going to become a semi-permanent residence for few of us in the next few days. The place had two Dhaba's [ढाबा] and both of them were nothing less than the best restaurants of the world.

Varun+Ujjwal+Snow+बेवकूफी

.Snow+Posers.

.Batal Dhaba+Aunty+Tarun.

.Snow Habitat.

After staying there for a while, we decided to go towards the Holy Chandratal Lake [चंद्रताल], birth place of the Chandra River. It was just 14 kilometers away from Batal and Kaza was still 88 kilometers away from there. We decided to see the Chandratal and halt for a day at the Batal Camps/Tents.

The road towards the lake was unexpectedly well and good, good is an understatement actually. However, we got to know that few MLA's of Himachal Pradesh were visiting that place and that was the main reason behind the good condition of that road.

Road to the lake was beyond the scope of our Maruti or any Maruti for that matter, so we decided to walk the remaining 5 kilometers. However, a group of tourists asked us to join them in their Tata Sumo and we were happy again. The lake was full of policemen and सरकारी बाबु and as it was about to rain, we decided to make it fast and straight.

.Men at Work.

.This is Road.

One of the MLA's happened to be our college senior and we were happy to meet him. Actually, he spotted us and asked us about our whereabouts. Considering our condition, we looked less like tourists and more like mentally challenged people thrwon into the snow deserts. [This is what a small car can do to you in that part of country] He must have thought of helping us but he was very Eco-friendly and he asked us to join the lunch party with him, which we did not refuse ;)

While coming back, we met a foreign couple on Bullets. The lady and his man, both were on their independent Bullets and it was then the Murphy Law struck. It struck badly and the life was never same again :X

.The Holy Chandratal Lake.

Coming Soon: Murphy Law and Snow and Lack of Money and Struggle

The Accident-I

As I sit here in front of my computer and I do not want to do anything, I decided to write about the 'turning moment' of my life.

28thJanuary 2004:

A bus fell into the ditch [200 feet] and 16 people died there and then, on the spot. I was one of them who survived. But that survival was very painful. I used to boast that my body does not have any mark of stitches or whatsoever and there I was lying among the dead with rain falling on my face and I was smiling, counting the marks on my hands. I [was] an intelligent [academically] fellow. I wanted to become an Aeronautics Engineer. I worked real hard to acheive my goal and I [knew] it was there, just few weeks away from me, right in front of me.

I was about to go for the Navy SSB and I was damn sure about it that I would return as a Navy Officer for sure. My mother asked me to come on 24th itself and I postponed the program to 28th. I wanted to stay in Hamirpur for some more time as I [knew] I would never return to this place again.

For me, my life at Hamirpur and for more than 18 years, I have lived here only. That day made me believe that the way Indian movies are picturized, they are actually very realistic, or at least for me they look real unless it is Fardeen Khan/Zayed Khan/Harman Baweja starer.

Here goes the story:

I left from the academy and decided to leave at 9 AM. But, I decided not to and as I was sure that was my last day in the hostel, so I decided to 'बांटो' some 'ज्ञान' in the hostel. Eventually the ज्ञान बांटो session ran for two hours and I decided to leave. I reached at the bus stand and boarded the first bus but as I was/am fond of the first seats, next to the driver, I got down from that bus and started searching for another bus. Soon, the ill fated bus came and I happily sat on the first seat next to the driver, which gave me immense happiness because I could talk to the driver and learn new गालियाँ from him. :)

The bus started and by the time I could finish my book, the bus more than half of the distance.

The driver was smoking बीडी and I asked him not to smoke because the road was dangerous but the drivers are drivers and they never listen to kids. He was driving with single hand and that made the situation even thrilling/dangerous. I slept, for the first time in my life on that route, considering that I had made more than 100 journeys on that route, and by the time I opened my eyes, the bus was flying in the air, I could not sense anything, as I was just feeling the numbness in my feet, stomach and head. I looked at the driver and he was nowhere to be seen, as he jumped out of the bus. I closed my eyes, smiled and then there was rain, blood and cries.

I opened my eyes because I felt a very bright light penetrating my vision and when I opened my eyes, my forehead was covered with sweat and palms too were sweaty. Probably, this is how यमराज decides to beat the shit out of human body.

I opened my eyes and felt rain on my face. I saw myself lying among the dead bodies, flies on my face and my body covered with blood and painful marks.


Part-II in progress.

The Dharamshala Stadium

Two weeks back, I and JP decided to go to Dharamshala on one of our random journeys. The Dharmashala Stadium is where two matches of IPL will be held. The stadium was still under construction. The left portion of the stadium, if you enter from the main gate, was under construction. It reminded me of Delhi's preparation of the Commonwealth Games :P

Himachal also belongs to India, i felt suddenly :D

The left side is completely nude and they are working on dressing it up.

The HPCA Pavillion, Dharamshala

If you join the top of the Red Building with the top of the flood light and then extrapolate its bisector towards the Dhauladhar Range, the point where it meets the hilly terrain was my colony in my 9th and 10th class :)



The place is cool and somewhat like New Zealand Grounds . However this ground has a capacity of 400 runs in a single innings.

I was about to go to see the match but ICICI dumped me for the first time and now we are going to Chamba. Just another of our random trip \m/

You can read more Chamba stories at this site. Trekking and Riding in the Chamba Himalayas. 

Thanks Letter To Me + Government

Oh Boy! They work also and I would like to thank the Himachal Government for the good work.

Flashback
Tarun Goel was feeling like Rajdhani Express and all the trouble started when his ass started losing its sheen and flesh because of the troublesome buses.

Tarun Goel wrote to the Transport Minister+Chief Minister+Director Transport Himachal Pradesh to start a comfortable bus from Hamirpur to Delhi, on 01-September-2009. The tone of the application cum letter was aggressive and the copies were sent to several people/authorities worldwide. He received an email from the Director of Transport on 22-October-2009, which said that the matter has been considered and the application is forwarded to the Transport Minister.

On 12-December-2009, he received another email and a letter that stated that the matter has been discussed in the Assembly and they have decided to start the bus. Another letter and email was received on 25-January-2010, which stated the bus will be started in near future.

Here are the details of the letter sent to the minister:

Dear Ministers,

I, Tarun Goel, am a frequent traveler from Hamirpur to Delhi. As the only medium of transport is bus from here to Delhi, I have to rely totally on the buses only. But it is a matter of deep regret that not even a single comfortable bus runs from the Educational Capital of the state.
There are 2 buses, which are termed as Semi-Deluxe, but the condition of those buses is just pathetic. The seats are adjustable but if one leans back on those seats then the person behind him cries all the way till he reaches his destination. The road condition is as good as the buses and they ensure that no passenger reaches his destination in single piece.
It is my sincere request that please start some good quality buses from Hamirpur like TATA AC.
The TATA AC buses are comfortable and affordable also, so please start at least 2 TATA AC buses from Hamirpur to DELHI.
It is my request that if you are not going to start the buses (TATA AC-Comfortable BUS) then please travel by these so called Semi Deluxe buses and you will yourself understand my grievances.


05-February-2010

The bus service has started and it is the same bus that was requested by me. I went to the bus station and said जिंदाबाद and clapped also.
I don't know whether it was my threatening letter or something else that forced them to do a sensible thing but who cares. I would like to take this opportunity to thank myself for this amazing work done by me. :D :D

P.S: Those who want the solution can go here

Mini Trip's Mini Diary

On my birthday = 12 October, I left for Chandigarh because my sister was to be operated for Pancreatic Calculi Stone at P.G.I and presence of an extremely intelligent+talented young man (me) was mandatory there to deal with the government officials. I started at 18:45 and the bus belonged to Haryana State Roadways. Following are the important observations made by me:

1. Every one is scared of the Man Behind the Counter: The man behind the counter is the most dangerous thing one can ever see. Every creature calls him "sir" and he never listens or answers to anyone. Railways, Airways, Post Office, Roadways, BSNL the counter man can be found anywhere and believe me he is the most "on-the-spot" respected person on earth. There used to be a teacher in my college and he used to scare every single child in his class. Even he was saying "sir" to him and counter-man did not reply to him. Counter-man scolded him and I was laughing at his face. :D
The counter man asked me,"tujhe kya chahiye= what do you want?"
I replied,"Entertainment". That made me board the other state's bus because after the answer I gave there was no chance of me getting a ticket from him.

2. When we were about to reach Chandigarh, the bus conductor and driver shouted at the top of their voices that Chandigarh people get down as soon as possible. I and six other poor souls boarded down, half asleep half disturbed, and we found that he had thrown us in the middle of nowhere and that place was at least 10 k.m away from Chandigarh :D Luckily I found one auto at 1 A.M. He charged me 100 INR, the bus fare from Hamirpur to Chandigarh was 140 INR :(, poor me. The auto was running just behind that bus and auto driver kept telling me," This is your bus. This is your bus!" :P Life is an unbalanced equation :)

3. In P.G.I, for the first time in my Life, I saw a doctor behaving like a doctor. Endoscopy is a very painful experience and doctors are really doing a good job. I heard people crying, shouting when the wire was inserted into their mouth and being a doctor requires highest level of patience.

4. On women oriented festivals like Karwachauth, Rakhi and other related festivals, ladies do not have to pay any fare while travelling through Himachal Roadways buses. This is injustice and partiality. How can they say that,"Ladka-ladki ek samaan", when they reserve seats and provide free travelling passes for women? But let them travel for free, government is busy collecting votes for the next election, why do they care? :-|

5. I would be writing for a Hindi news paper :)

And We Did It....

Long ago, actually not so long ago when I was college, there lived a poor mess-worker next to us. He used to come to our room, talk to us, tell about his kids and lastly about his problems. He told us that he had been working in the college since 1986, which actually is the starting year of N.I.T Hamirpur, and all he gets [in 2008] is 2000 INR only and once he leaves the college [mess] he will get no retirement money, no rewards for his service.

Me, JP & Karma listened to him and we told him that we will do something about it. Later on, all of us started doing the same shitty business of ours, everything except studies. After one week, that fellow died, I was coming back after failing in the exam and I found his name on the noticeboard. As, I did not know his name, I slept peacefully that after-noon, but in the evening JP told me that he was "he". And that night, three of us could not sleep... :(

May be we feel more pissed off, if someone dies, when we know someone. There is no absolute love left in this world, I guess. It is relative, had he not talked to us, we would have done the same old things without giving a single thought about him. So he died, leaving nothing but a cruel fucking world for his family.

That night, KARMA and JP smoked some thousand cigarettes, and I cursed them badly for it and we decided to start Mess Worker Welfare Fund, which will take 20 INR from all the students and will be distributed among the needy mess workers from time to time. We got into action that day only and got signatures done from all the 1000(approx.) students within one week, some people asked to reduce the amount from 20 to 5 INR. But good people and bad people co-exist, so never mind. Lastly, we were sitting in front of all the Professors, wardens and Deans with the proposal we prepared. Some fools tried to oppose us, till date I don't know why, may be I = WE did not have good marks, as marks are very important criteria to be able to respect your self in my college :D

We left college with very very very heavy heart as we could not get the job done.Our worthy teachers could not approve our proposal as they did not have guts enough to approve it.They wanted to get it approved from some higher authority and they from someone even higher than them. That dead person's image haunted me for a very long time but I guess today is the day of happiness. It is done, I don't know how it happened, neither I want to know. The job is done and "WE" did it.

R.I.P Old Man
We still blame ourselves as we could not do anything for you when you were alive :(