Traffic menace in Mumbai

Travelling in Mumbai is definately a nightmare for most of the Mumbaikars. Though Mumbai has one of the best public transport system in the country, (I saw this after travelling in other metropolis except Kolkata), one easily spends half his life time travelling from one end to other.

I have always felt at ease travelling by BEST (local buses) and even more comfortable by the local trains, the lifeline of Mumbai. May be thats because i never ventured during the office hours. But even when i started working it really didn't matter. Since i stay in the central suburb called Sion, which is connected to most part of the town, travelling was never an issue. I could afford to leave two buses, because i am rest assured that within ten minutes i will have two more buses coming which would be less crowded. But things weren't so easy yesterday, when i had to go to Chembur, for a dinner at my uncles place. I really couldn't afford to miss it since everyone in my family including my cousins were going to be there. (PS: Considering we are just two now here, rest have gone to Uncle Sam's country.) I really didn't want since, i knew it was impossible to go by train from office, since Worli isn't connected by train to Chembur. I had to take a bus.

So after a painful wait at the bus-stand (for nearly 30 mins) i boarded a bus from Worli, that goes to Chembur and not to my uncles place. I considered myself really smart for taking this decision, as i thought it was well past 8.30 PM and i could reach my uncles place by 9.30. I later realised, that was the most idiotic decision. The traffic just refused to ease. The first bottleneck was near the famous Siddhivinayak Temple, where it took me nearly 30 mins to cross that junction. I was optimistic at this point, thinking things would be fine beyond this point. But i was mistaken. By the time i reached Dadar Circle it was almost 9.15 PM. To add to this the driver was a bad driver. Even when he had a clear road ( which a rarity) he refused to go beyond 20km/hr. This frustrated most of the passengers. Some even got down and boarded some other buses..(Sheer smartness i say). I was too tired to get down after a mad friday in office. It was day where everything happened at the same time. Trust in 15 mins, the inflation numbers came in, UTVi had an exclusive chat with Infosys Management (Since they announced their Q1 results) and the IIP numbers. So it was madness and i didn't have time to have my lunch. So the best thing was sit in the bus. I was trying to distract my attention and started playing with a baby. But no respite. Rain god only worsened the situation.

At around 9.30 PM when i was nearing my residence, i thought let me get down and go home. It was then when my aunt called up and emotionally blackmailed me. I couldn't say no. So the painful journey continued. It was 10 PM and I easily had to travel 6 Kms. At this juncture i lost my cool and decided to take an auto. This is when my co-passenger said, it wouldn't really make a difference. But i could no longer sit in the bus, where most of the passengers were smelling, (including me :P, thanks to the humidity). I got down and took the great vehicle in India, the autorickshaw. Trust me in 20 mins i reached home at around 10.45PM. I thanked the driver, he was just brilliant. I was relieved and it was seen in my face. The driver gazed at me, when i thanked him. I am sure i looked like a fool.

Now you may ask me why didn't i take a taxi or an auto earlier, simply because till reach Chunnabhati, taking an auto or travelling by bus doesn't really make a difference. So in all three hour to travel 15kms. I don't whether anywhere else in the world would some one take so much to travel this distance. But in Mumbai, you surely will. The worst part of this was i was in office at 8 in the morning on Saturday...But all said and done, i still love this city, don't ask me why :)