The Night bus

I cannot say that I like travelling long distances by bus. But sometimes when I am on an international flight spending hours sitting, I tend to recall the bus journeys I have made years back almost fondly. That perhaps says more about the airline seats but buses were (and I think still are) convenient when we had to travel at short notice or when train connections were not readily available. I do not take the bus when travelling in India these days and my experience goes back a lot of years but I can still remember many such road trips of the past. The long distance express buses were fairly comfortable (though they were not, as the operators liked to call them, 'luxury' coaches) and relatively fast.

Bus journeys by day used to be very trying - the traffic, the dust and the heat made them really unbearable. Air-conditioning no doubt makes the situation better now but the traffic has probably increased many fold to compensate for that. Night trips avoid the traffic and the heat so at least on two counts they are significantly more comfortable. Of course, such clinical analysis does not quite get to the heart of the whole experience which depended heavily on the route travelled, the condition of the roads, and many other factors.

Among the many road trips that I have made by bus, the memory of one I took from Bangalore to Tirunelveli decades back has somehow stayed with me. I was in college then and it was a sudden decision on my part to go home for Deepavali that year on a cloudy November evening. The trip would take some eleven hours. With recent rains, the ground was a little wet so there was very little dust. The air was quite pleasant.

As I boarded the bus, I bought some roasted peanuts, a perfect snack for the cool conditions. The peanuts were still warm and were wrapped in paper rolled to form a long conical shape. The only flaw in the whole scheme would be the inevitable rotten peanut inside. Once you bite into one, the only way to get the taste out of your mouth is to immediately eat a good one, as you surely have experienced. So I always make it a point to save a good one to eat last.

The bus rolled out of the bus stand as I was finishing the snack. I unrolled the paper cone for you never knew where that piece of paper had come from. Every piece of paper was recycled then. I discovered that this one was from a school notebook with arithmetic problems worked out in a neat hand. I settled into my seat and looked around. The seat next to mine was occupied by a burly man with a thick moustache and hair shining with lots of oil. I sighed to myself realizing that much of that oil was going to find its way to the seat. I hoped that he would not choose my shoulder to nod off during the journey and mentally prepared to defend my territory.

In my previous trips, where I was familiar with the route I knew where the bus would stop for meals. Usually, it was a some small town restaurant where the bus crew ate for free in return for bringing in a bus load of paying customers. I expected that it would be the same on this trip and I was not wrong. After a couple of hours, in the middle of apparently nowhere, the bus stopped in front of what looked like a house but bore the sign 'Rama Cafe' or some such name. Inside were separate rooms with marble-topped tables and chairs laid out in a line. This was no fancy eatery but very business like. You just found a vacant seat and sat down to eat.

The food was served on banana leaves. There was no menu. You had to settle for whatever they were serving. The waiters simply brought different dishes out and you decided what you wanted from those. You can call it the WYSIWYG menu if you like. I wondered how they kept track of who ate what and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was basically an honour system. You just told the person at the counter what you ate and paid the bill. The best part of the thing of course was the food itself which was exceptional - fresh, hot and delicious.

After this unexpected treat, we were back on the road again and it looked like the best part of the trip was over. The bus was equipped with a music system but most passengers wanted to catch some sleep and told the driver to shut it off when he tried to play some film songs. The lights were then turned off leaving just the glow of the blue night lamps. There is something about road trips in the night that is calming. The drone of the engine was somewhat hypnotic. The light traffic made for steady driving and less honking. The road was in decent shape and the ride comfortable. By and by most of the passenger were nodding off.

Nodding heads are apt to land on  neighbours' shoulders and that's just a law of nature. I soon found myself at the receiving end of this law, fending off the attack constantly. As the head alternated between my side and the other side, I had time to look outside. It was pitch dark but the sky provided an amazing view with bright stars that are practically invisible in a city sky. Eventually I too managed fall asleep only to wake and now and then with my neighbour's head on my shoulder. This routine played out a few times as the night went on.

The bus passed through many a sleepy town with streets that were mostly empty. Between the towns, you could smell the paddy fields in the cool night air. The occasional stops provided an opportunity to stretch one's legs. The bus stands were mostly deserted. The journey went on in this fashion and I finally reached my destination around 5:30 am. Although I was fatigued and stiff, I could not say that the journey was unpleasant. It was still dark but the bus stand was a bustle of activity. I rubbed my eyes and got off, threw the bag over my shoulder and looked for an auto rickshaw that would take me to my home but not before grabbing a cup of steaming coffee from one of the shops that was already open for business.

Buses have come a long way since then. They now look sleek on the outside and may even deserve the adjective 'luxurious' on the inside. You can find sleeper buses for a night journey and it must surely be much more comfortable to travel now. While I suppose it is still possible to encounter some oily heads, I am almost certain that restaurants like the one I ate at are extinct now. Even then I kind of knew that such places were a dying breed. So the feelings of nostalgia when I think back to that time are doubly poignant. Maybe I will try a bus trip next time just for old times' sake.