Joy ride

“It’s incredulous, but when my cousin came from Canada, the thing that excited him immensely about the traffic on our roads was the minibus. He kept insisting that we take him for a long ride on one. At the end of it he proclaimed that it had been the best experience of his life,” narrated my friend to a bewildered me.

Call me paranoid, but the thing I was dreading most about going to university was travelling in public transport (read minibuses). Yeah, those ultra-decorated, “sloganized” vehicles with piercing horns that were sure to deafen me before the month was over. That is, if I survived that month, since races between buses were supposed to be the order of the day.

I’ve lost count of all the times I had heard that when mounting a bus, be sure to recite all the duas, lest it turn out that you never got off. Four months later, I am still surviving. The level of bus paranoia has drastically reduced. And it is not because I ditched the bus, learnt how to drive and got my own car, all of this in these four months.

I have discovered that travelling in a bus is not half as bad as it is made out to be. In fact, it is an eye-opener to the reality that despite a lot of negative connotations to the phrase “Pakistani people” the same have a real spirit to help each other for whoever needs it. My experiences in buses are the epitome of this statement.

Firstly, there is the concerned attitude of the conductors. They always make the driver stop the bus whenever a lady wants to get off, irrespective of whether there is a bus stop or not. They also ensure that everyone who wants to get off have disembarked before they indicate to the driver to drive on. And, this was the most surprising part, if a lady has too much to carry, they help her with her bags till she disembarks (maybe to rush things, who knows? But I’ll be optimistic here).

If the children are too young, they help them get on and off the bus as well. Yes, there are those as well who whistle unnecessarily and shout out to the other vehicle drivers, but for the most part, it is tolerable.

Another prominent thing about travelling in the bus is the unspoken interaction between the women passengers. The ones who are sitting have no problem serving as human shelves for the luggage of those standing, be it a purse, a shopping bag bursting at the seams, or a paper bag full of samosas.

If a woman boards the bus with a child in tow, or a baby in her arms, one of the women who is sitting is sure to take charge of the children. The more polite ones always give up their seats for the elderly (unfortunately, yours truly is definitely guilty of never doing this commendable act).

Buses are also a place to get some light entertainment. There are numerous occasions when I have witnessed a lady in designer clothes, wearing sunglasses and carrying a designer bag, arguing with the conductor because he asked for another rupee, politely informing her that the fare had increased.

It’s a wonder how reluctant women are to pay another rupee when it’s very evident from their appearance that they can well-afford items that cost way more. The above absolutely does not indicate that the women who complain about travelling in a bus live in another world.

There are some problems: for instance, the most irritating one is the infiltration of men into the women’s compartment when their own section becomes devoid of places to stand. The conductor also sometimes takes undue advantage of an empty seat. Speaking of conductors, some are extremely rude when asking for the fare. Some make a huge fuss if asked to stop the bus when it is racing with another. But overall, I must say that things are not so bleak.

Travelling in a bus has its ups and downs, but we’ve mostly read about the downs, whereas the ups are there alright. My friend’s cousin’s statement is a living proof. It’s another thing he didn’t witness the women’s enclosure.