This time also, it was as eventful as any other year. Our train reached the city a bit late. We missed the 9am bus and the next one was at 11am. So we just hung around at my cousin's place and came back to the bus stop and waited for the bus. I didn't know which bus it was and ended up bugging my mom everytime a bus entered. Finally, bus#14 arrived! I managed to fight my way through, carrying a suitcase and my violin (yes... i know... poor poor village people) and I found place to sit. It was in the front of the bus. Soon the conductor and driver came and we were all set to go! The driver turns the key, the bus roars to life. Then the driver shifts the stick to what I can only imagine is the first gear. The bus moves a couple of inches forward then stops. The driver again starts the bus and tries the first gear. Again the bus stops (yeah... it was in an awful condition). Finally the driver managed to get the bus moving after several failed attempts and we were on our way!!!!
Everytime the bus stopped at a bus stop, the driver had the same problem with the first gear. Yet he pushed on. I really admired his patience. If it were me in his place, I would have given up on the bus after a few stops and walked away. But he pushed on till a village next to my village. There he stopped. The engine gave him trouble. He looked back at me and my mom. We were sitting there with 2 heavy suitcases, one big bag and a violin case. Yeah... thats loads of luggage. The driver thought so too. He again started fighting to get the engine to life and get the bus moving. Like this we went on till we reached our village. When we were getting down, we turned to the bus driver and thanked him. We also said we thought he had loads of patience in dealing with this age old bus. He looked at us and told us that he was ready to give up and turn back in the last village that we stopped in. But he didn't think we would find it easy to walk the long distance with all that luggage. So he pushed on mainly for us! :)
Now isn't that really nice of him? Nobody would have blamed him if he had given up on the bus half-way through and turned back. Yet he pushed on for the sake of his passengers! I have rarely met people like him! The conductor was also mighty sweet! He and the driver make an excellent team. And they took that almost-broken-down bus all the way to the final destination just for us! Thats when I decided I just HAD to write a post on them. Even if you found this to be an incredibly boring post, I don't care. It is very rare that we meet such people. So I dedicate this post to all the dedicated people who push themselves to the limits to keep their customers happy and satisfied and those who work for the comfort of others without worrying too much about themselves :)
About a few days after we landed in the village, I took my camera and went out for a walk with my cousin sister. We saw the bus coming down the road. I decided to take a few pics to post here on my blog. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, The Amazing Village bus!!!
The bus coming down a really really bad village road. Its no wonder that the buses break down so easily! 
The village bus again...getting closer..... closer....
Guess who was driving the bus on that particular day???????!!!!! Yeah it was the same driver who dropped us on the very first day! He saw me taking pictures and stopped right in front of me so that I could get a clear shot. So nice of him!!!! You can see the nice conductor strike a pose!
The bus carrying on after the photo shoot :P. After this incident my sister commented..."Well... how about that! The bus doesn't stop when we try to flag it down by frantically waving around... but now it stopped when you took a photograph! Maybe from now on, we should all stand in the bus stop with cameras. Then he will stop for us! Hmph! :P "
9 comments:
Haha, so cute! I agree, it isn't always that you come across such sweet and nice people. Reminded me of my 'Kindness' post, heh. It's nice you decided to dedicate this post to them. I'm sure if they had any way to see it, they'd be very happy! :)
The post wasn't boring at all! Nice people make the world a more pleasant place :) Talking about nice people, sometimes I feel that saying a mere "Thank you" isn't enough and yet it seems like the only thing we can offer at that moment in time.
hey m.g,
that was such a heart-warming post! yes, people like that just make your day, don't they??
how are the violin lessons coming along? are you studying carnatic classical or hindustani? or western??
wonderful blog and nice pics to go with it . visitin ones village is indeed a great experience . you captured true colors. Iam sure , it's gonna be a big challenge , travelling in those buses.
Iam also travelling to my village next week . hope to get similar nice pics
#clueless
yeah, this is kinda like ur kindness post. It wud be unfair not to give such wonderful ppl some due credit. As soleil says, a mere thank you is not enough in some cases!
#soleil
Thats exactly how i felt when we got off the bus and when they stopped just for me to take a few pics! So nice of them! Just a "thank you" didnt seem enough... Wish they cud read this post. I know they wont. But this is the best i can do :D
#TGFI
they sure made my day :)
Violin lessons are going on great! I am studying carnatic. Already had a bit of experience with it when i tried to learn singing a few yrs ago. Don't ask how that went! :P
#vj
Hey there! Welcome to my blog! I am glad u enjoyed the post. Have fun on ur trip! Hope u get plenty of beautiful pics :)
The post was fun to read... especially the idea of flagging buses down with cameras lol.. and yeah, such people are rare to find..
In bangalore once, we asked an auto waala to take us to a medical shop coz I urgently wanted some medicine and I was feeling sick.. it was a 5-10 mins walk from that place, but I was feeling really sick and didn't want to walk even that much.. but that person didn't agree!! He was probably looking for better business...a longer distance ride!
That's why when you meet people like your bus driver, you feel really grateful and happy.. :D
#extremely confused girl :P
Had to remove ur previous comment eh? Apt name u've got for urself! :P (kiddin' lah!! :D)
Auto waalas are normally like that. They don't like to go to a place too far away or too near by. Picky people! Ppl like the bus driver make u realize that there still exist nice ppl on this planet :)
you are so........
DIFFERENT!
:)
Do continue to be urself!
enjoy!
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