Volvo buses and the dreaded C word!

I was listening to the radio on a Saturday morning when a listener asked the BMTC representative why they play music in the Volvo buses. Apparently it disturbs him a lot. Sure! That sounds like a real problem we got with BMTC and its Volvo buses. If you go by my experience, the biggest problem has to do with the C word. Have you got Change? The C word we are looking for here is ‘Change’.

It’s an early Monday morning. I am left with no cash at all after all the weekend (and its crazy expenditure). I am left me with a mere 500 and nothing else. No change!

My fare till office in a volvo cost me a significant 25 rupees. I say significant because let’s face it, it’s costly. Two times of 25 are 50; that’s what I spend in one single day on my bus ride to and fro. They say it’s cooler inside and it would reach you faster. Seriously? I have come across Volvo buses where there was so much commotion that I couldn’t even breathe. Talk about coolness! And there was a time when a lady vomited and we all commuters inside the enclosed area caught a whiff of that abominable concoction. What use is the enclosed space now eh? As for reaching faster I don’t think so. Here the driver sees a poor lady waiting for the bus and he stops. Even if that would mean stopping at a busy, no-bus-stop, no parking area. And here is a sweaty man trying his best to get to a speeding bus and the driver ignores him. Run bhola run but sorry dude! You’re not from the fairer sex.

I boarded a Volvo with much anticipation. In fact I was almost anxious. My wallet and the 500 note inside were conspiring against me. What becomes of you now? I told my destination and handed over the 500 note to the conductor. His eyes were red (I think he made a tight fist too) if I was not wrong. Most probably he had a rough night I said to myself. “Give me change. 25”, he tells me in the vernacular language. “No change”, I tell him; meek and frightened by now. He gives me one of those looks and then starts ‘telling’ me all sorts of things. I got told! So early in the morning. If I got it right I heard something to this effect “Don’t know kannada, don’t know nothing. Just here to work. Giving me a 500 so early in the morning. What do these people think of themselves. I’ll give him a 1000 note for a silly ticket and let him give me the change.” I was less offended by what he said (which I only partially understood) and more by the fact that by now everyone on board the bus was staring at me. I was made to be the imbecile who arrogantly wants to show off his cash! I was frozen. I didn’t even have the courage to tell him to just stop getting so personal with me in a language which I barely understand. Stop being such a bully. That I am just a customer and he is providing me a service and not doing me any favours by ‘granting’ me a ticket and the subsequent change. And that he got no rights to insult me and manhandle me such. Alas! I was red in anger and shame. I thought of jumping off the bus at the next stop. I couldn’t. The air-tight doors didn’t open at the next stop. Damn you Volvo!

Many a times I get told on the bus just because I didn’t have a 5 coin/note with me. Remember how I need to tender a 20 and a 5? Many a times I see innocent men and even women being looked down upon just because they did not ‘tender exact change’! This might sound rather too much of an outburst but yes! This seems to be the same story everywhere. Some fine day they will tell you ‘the fare has increased by another 5’. And another 5 and another 5. And so also increases the imperial power of these Volvo conductors. Aren’t they like supposed to be nicer to the commuters because we pay way more than a commuter in a non-AC bus?

Volvo buses has been forced upon us. Working in IT doesn’t qualify you as a lavish spender. I don’t really ‘have to’ spend so much on a stupid, crowded and at times stinking bus ride. It doesn’t make any sense. I won’t mind travelling in some ‘normal’ [sic] bus as well. In fact, I would love some fresh air when the bus moves and the windows are open. More so when somebody goes sick! The non-Volvo buses which commute between my place and my office are so less that I got no patience and time to wait, for one. Two, they are always super crowded since the non-IT commuters have to fit in to these buses which ply in lesser numbers and frequency.

Well, not all is bad here. Once I heard a poor man (or so I thought at first) being scolded for not having change on a Volvo when he shouts back at the conductor. He says in Hindi, ‘Bro, if you are so frustrated with your job just leave it and sit at home’. Everyone in the bus laughed, including me. It was cruel but who cares! Redemption is always sweet however small and whenever it comes! He got told! Volvo conductor got told! Hell yes, this is a two-way street. But life continues. And here we are travelling in an overpriced, over-crowded and stinking Volvo. And oh! There’s the crappy music too. For ‘entertainment’, like there’s already less!