Life in a Metro 2

It was Thane again for me. The target was to reach by 3 pm.

I left office from Goregoan East at 1 pm. I made it a point to take small buffer this time and not as big as I did last time although it helped me. I did not have the liberty to add those buffer time.

I stepped out of the office and was happy to see no rains. This time rains were in my favor.

I usually avoid rickshaws near my office as they refuse most of the time. But still I asked each one of them politely and each one of them refused politely. Finally I started searching for Ola and Uber cabs as usual. Does it really matters if rickshaws go on strike?

I had almost walked half a kilometer while I was booking a cab. Quickly booked Ola micro, thanked God as there was no surge price. With no time, I called the driver to ask his location and he told he is at Inorbit Mall i.e. Goregoan West which is very far. I asked him, will he manage to reach in 10 min for which he replied, "Saab, Bahut traffic hai". I understood and cancelled the ride. Ola app still has to fine tune its application.

I opened up Uber but there was no cab available except for SUV or Uber Black. I tried Ola mini this time and got one quickly again. He reached in 5 minutes and the trip started with traffic. 

Traffic  is something which people have to accept in Mumbai. This will add on when the Metro work start in Western Express Highway. I was already late and got restless to reach Borivali as I had to catch a bus there after. He dropped me at Magathane depot. 

I had to catch the AC 700 bus to Thane but instead got a NON AC bus. I just stepped in the bus and asked for a ticket. He refused and told that this bus doesn't go the destination. I confirmed again but he was sure that it will not go to my location. I was confused as the same bus had dropped me last time.

I got down to return back to the same depot after walking for a Kilometer. I then started inquiring again with other conductors who told that the bus goes to the place but have to get down at a particular location and then take a rickshaw. The previous bus conductor was unaware of it. As per the rule the more late you get, the more problems come your way to make it really late.

I finally got a AC 700 bus after waiting for 10 min. I remember the quality of this bus but I did not have options as before. People have started ignoring this bus and the bus usually goes empty. This time I managed to take a picture of the interiors. 

Although it was not raining water was dripping from the AC vent. To save the seat they had put plastic sheet. I shifted place twice to find a better place to sit in. The bus was vibrating even on roads without potholes. I feared that some of the parts might fall on me. I could see screws fallen off from the top.

I cannot avoid the bus but this time I estimated the time wrongly. I started my google map to to check how far I am from the destination. It showed 45 min away. I wanted to make the delay as small as possible. 

I reached the destination and I could see rickshaws to Thane station and no body ready to take me to my location. I moved ahead to search for rickshaws. It started drizzling slightly. I prayed and got a rickshaw in time. I started my google map and saw the destination 5 minutes away.

Finally I reached at 3:30 pm.


‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’

Life in a Metro

I had put alarm for 6:45 am and purposely missed it to sleep a bit more considering that I would reach on time to a place. Subconsciously my mind had recorded my wife's statement that Thane is just a station ahead.

I quickly tried to have breakfast so that I leave home by 8:00 am. But as usual I was delayed by 35 min. Still I had enough time in hand to reach Thane at 11:00 am.

While we experienced a sunny day yesterday, it rained heavily today as per the rule (Rains come when not expected). My shoe got wet while I reached bus stop. To my dismay there was no share auto or bus. Buses were either full or going to some other place. After waiting for around 20 min got rickshaw to station. And I suddenly remembered that my railway pass had expired 4 days back. I quickly started my OLA app to find no cab nearby.

I had to take a quarterly pass in order to reach Borivali. And in the train I suddenly felt heavy and was sweating all over. Had a quick water sip to relieve my thirst. I was praying to God to take train to platform no. 1 as it was near to the overbridge connecting to Borivali east.

But as per rule train stopped at platform no 8. I had to walk 1.5 km to reach platform no. 1.

Finally after reaching Borivali East, I checked time. It was 9:30am and I was supposed to reach Thane by 11:00am. Rains were intermittent. I tried to book OLA again but the estimated fare was 1000 bucks. I dropped the idea of travelling in a cab and joined the queue at bus stop. Then started enquiring for Thane bus. 700 AC bus came and one told that quality is very poor and recommended to catch some other bus but since I was running late I had no options.

Quality of the bus was indeed poor with broken parts inside (Do not go by picture above).  The bus conductor shouted "the fares have been reduced, please come". Very few people stepped in. It was known fact that BEST AC bus is China made and warranty has expired. There is no maintenance done as well.

I was sitting near window and water started dripping inside. Some complained to conductor. But he did not have an answer.

I finally reached my destination just on time since I had calculated enough buffer time.

No wonder life in a Metro is interesting to read.