Frustrations of a Daily Commuter

Long long time ago man invented the wheel and there was a revolution (Pun Unintended). On second thought, I always wonder why is it called inventing the wheel and not discovering the wheel? I mean come on, circular objects would've existed since long and making them roll was just common sense.

Man's desire to go from Place A to Place B in less time and with minimal effort prompted him in putting a few wheels together. Like someone said, "The guy who invented the wheel was an idiot but the guy who invented the other three was a genius." Though some would beg to differ, so let me add here that the guy who put 2 wheels together was God :D


Well, my own set of wheels took some time coming. Until then I had to rely on the set of wheels dedicated for picking up and dropping school children (until I was in school) and those marked for public, a.k.a, public transport.

Travelling in school bus was fun as you know who your fellow travellers are (and they are the same everyday), you know how long will the journey take and where the bus will stop and how many people will get in or get off. My school bus used to pick up and drop kids to 3 different schools, so all the seats used to be occupied. Now picture a city bus (the red lines and blue lines), multiply the number of people by 5, all of them wrestling with you for space. So much so, that at all times u have to keep your lungs filled with air, you breathe out and it creates enough space in the bus for 2 more people to get in. I had to endure this for close to 4 years of my life which I spent studying engineering (60 KMs every day). Once there were so many people around me that neither my hands were holding anything nor my feet were on the floor, i was being supported by people pressing against me. Let me assure you, it was not a pleasant feeling at all. I still have nightmares about "that" day.

I was lucky to land a job very close to my home. So close, that I used to go home for lunch during the 1 hour lunch break. My 1987 model Bajaj Chetak took me to work. And every single day the parking lot security guard used to ask me "This old scooter doesn't look good on you. Why don't you buy a bike?" I thought maybe this guy is interested in buying my scooter, that is why he is after my life. One day about 8 months later, I decided to buy a Bajaj Pulsar and asked this guy, "I am gonna get a new bike tomorrow, do u wanna buy my scooter?" and nonchalantly he replied "Arre nahi, Kabaadi ko bech do" (sell it to a junk dealer). This was a WTF moment for sure!!!

I was lucky enough to enjoy the 3KM work-home distance for a good 3 years. Then I got a job in Bangalore and everyone knows that the distance is not measured in Kilometers there, it is measured in terms of time. The scaling is something like 6KMs equals a little more than an hours time on the road. So the less said the better.

Regular readers of this blog must be aware of my frustration regarding my travel to Gurgaon from Noida about 2 year ago. There used to be hell-a-lot of traffic and to make matters interesting, all the flyovers in that route were being constructed. And once they were done and before I could drive on them my company moved to Faridabad.

En route Faridabad there comes a crossing which is like a BLACK HOLE for automobiles. It seems that during the peak hours all the cars and the buses in the world want to come and get stuck in that Jam. Its like Mecca of traffic jams. And as always, the responsibility of supervising the construction of a huge flyover was bestowed upon me. Man, standing at 1 place for 3 to 4 hours at a stretch was a norm. And you know whats funny now?? My company is moving back to Gurgaon. I guess they want me to take some new road construction project. I can officially call myself the Supervisor of Construction of Flyovers!!!

I don't know how many years I have spent on the road. Sometime being stuck in the jam made me feel that I have aged a few years. But I have learnt to take all this in my stride and I look at it like something that can be looked back on and can be laughed upon.

All said and done, I have something to add here : GOD!! I can give an arm and a leg for Working From Home!!! Is anyone listening???