In India people are so frustrated with the timing of government busses (or lack of thereof) that recently one of top searched terms in google India was “red bus”. May be, in the hope of atleast finding it online. Or it could even be one of the smart software kids too, who is yet to learn that there cannot be any reservations done online for the citi-busses. The red busses are more like action heroes of wild wild west, with raw aggression and grit. That is even visible on the vehicle itself. Every bus usually has a few sharp edges of rusted iron body cover of the vehicle which is protruding. It resembles the sharp pikes on the wheels of the chariot in a fight scene in the Gladiator movie. Dare not stand in its way. Even the bus itself will not “stand” in the bus-stand. Now, why it doesn’t, is in itself an area more appropriately analyzed later when we speak about BMTTC drivers.
Some time ago, Yedyurappa, had launched a series of high end Citi-busses. Few of them were so sophisticated that they had a small embedded PC and internet connectivity in all seats. But they forgot to install breaks in them. And speedometers too. The reason why the drivers of those busses were able to speed so much in densely populated and habituated roads of Bangalore was because they came with equally powerful sound horns. The power of them horns was so much, the two-wheelers which were either thinly built or were 150CC or less in capacity would just fly away to the edges of the road, thereby clearing much of the road to the busses. Those two-wheeler people, with the pillion rider, who would regain balance after few seconds feel worse when they notice that there is but only one passenger sitting in the whole bus.
Now, if you have driven in Bangalore even for an hour, you will notice that you have the freedom to overtake other vehicles both from left and the right. This freedom combined with high powered sound horns together with amazing maneuvering skills of ladies on scooties is a spectacle you just cannot miss. In the mornings, the girl usually is thinking about some nice things and riding at the right of the road. Usually which part of the road is she riding, depends on the direction of her previous turn. If she has turned right into this road, then she is at right side of the road. Otherwise it is left. The bus driver sometimes honks as a precaution, because the girl has adjusted her rear view mirror so that she can see herself in it, not the vehicles behind her. As soon as she hears the honk, no matter what, she starts moving from one side of the road to other. This is irrespective of which side she was in. As rear view mirror is out of focus for her, it really does not matter. These are very few moments where the BMTTC drivers are known to make an attempt to slow down their vehicles. But he is still bound by a secret oath may be, he cannot slow down too much because there will be needy citizens who would jump out of nowhere into the moving bus, thus availing the facilities of public transport. To avoid this, the busses now come fitted with hydraulic operated doors.
Though there is so much chaos on the roads, there are a few thumb rules which when memorized you can at least be sure in what situations you have to run away from the scene and also whether you run away in current state or try to find one of your shoe which flung away, before running. In any given minor accidents, if the other person is riding a vehicle which is cheaper then yours OR if you are more well dressed than other person, then it is definitely your mistake. You have to escape as soon as both of you are standing upright on your own feet without anybody’s help. The same rule holds if other person is above 50 years of age, but in this case, the cheaper vehicle clause is not taken into account and time available to escape is reduced to half of it.
If the other person is a female, usually there is no escape. The onus lies on yourself, irrespective of vehicle, time or place. This situation has been known to escalate pretty quickly if tears are seen in the other person’s eyes or if small to medium sized scratches are seen too. If this happens, then it is advised to bear all the expenses without question and leave. During late 1990′s or early 2000′s, these kind of minor accidents were also known to induce romantic feelings, between the two parties. Those were the times when Bangalore still had greenery around and there would be cool breeze even during the day. So, this was scientifically possible too. Now with the dust and carbon thats settled on your face, there is no chance.
For all other situations you might face, to be safe, just play unconscious for few seconds after rolling on the cleaner part of the road. You can resume your normal routine once you feel someone splashing water on your face.
Until then, drive safe.
