It's been 20 days since I moved to Pune. From my past experience in this city, auto-rickshaws should be avoided because auto-wallas scam you. But after 2 years and 3 months in Mumbai, autos had become the mode of transportation for me.
Of course Mumbai has the local trains too but I have ridden a local like 4 times in all. Each time- against my will. No, no one forced me in a bad way, but there were situations where only local made sense. And it was always with friends. Whereas autos in Mumbai, I ride with an ease. A similar ease that I have developed for cab rides in Pune. I can take a cab alone and I can share it with total strangers. For someone, who feels like a stranger with her own first cousins (except a few of them), many of her classmates (from all the schools and both the colleges) and all her neighbours, travelling everyday to and fro across the city with total strangers (2-3 new facesa day) feels like a big achievement. To her it does.
I used to be the person who didn't even have any cab apps in her phone until a few months ago. Yes! Well I did install Uber and Ola and Lyft so that my friend and a classmate and elder brother respectively could redeem a discount on referral. But after the free rides, I never used them; in-fact uninstalled them right away. Why? Because I had my family's car or the autos to go about anywhere. My friends used to call the cabs when too many of us had plans and too less autos were around. But, I hated riding cabs then. Since I was the fat one, obviously my seat was the passenger seat, cutting me off from rest of the gang who would sometimes crack jokes that never reached the front seat. Silly reason, I know. But necessity and new city have changed the way I look at cabs. They are my lifeline now-a comfortable and affordable commute. Just like when I thought I would never travel in a bus until I had to one fateful day.
My engineering college in Surat was some 4 hours train ride away from home, Ahmedabad. It was just before Diwali holidays, when some girls in the hostel mess were discussing how they couldn't get their train tickets confirmed and would have to take a bus. They lived in other states of the country, some 12- and some 24-hours away by train (Ok I admit, I don't know distances in kms and so I use number of hours via train to judge how far the cities are). They had no choice but to take a bus trip home and I very bluntly said: "I can't imagine sitting in bus for even 1 hour!" That same evening, I went to the railway station, to catch my train to home, which got cancelled. Engine Burst. True Story. Now, I had an option of boarding general coach of another train because hello, it was only four hours journey. But, I didn't. Right opposite the railway station was the bus stand. With 3 suitcases and 2 bags (girls travel with a lot of luggage), I didn't want to enter the crammed general coach of some train which would leave some 5 hours later. Instead, I ran towards the crammed state bus which was leaving in another 5 minutes. And after standing for 6 hours straight in that bus, I knew I can ride any bus.
Also, when I went to Delhi last weekend for a family function, riding in a cycle-rickshaw was really a trip down the memory lane- memories from when I was a little girl, going to school in the open air cycle rickshaws, wondering how kids travel in suffocating matadors, vans or bus. And yes, of course when we moved to Ahmedabad, I went to school in a school bus, which turned out to be the hub for school gossips and pranks. Yep, whatever I eye-roll at today, I will end up doing it tomorrow.
So this is Me. Living in different cities and embracing their modes of travel. And since I'm an indoor person, so only when I travel or commute is when I really look at the city. I look at the roads, the graffiti on the walls along with resumes of local hakims and propaganda of local politicians, the electric polls and a hundred wires on them, the trees, the people.
Of course Mumbai has the local trains too but I have ridden a local like 4 times in all. Each time- against my will. No, no one forced me in a bad way, but there were situations where only local made sense. And it was always with friends. Whereas autos in Mumbai, I ride with an ease. A similar ease that I have developed for cab rides in Pune. I can take a cab alone and I can share it with total strangers. For someone, who feels like a stranger with her own first cousins (except a few of them), many of her classmates (from all the schools and both the colleges) and all her neighbours, travelling everyday to and fro across the city with total strangers (2-3 new facesa day) feels like a big achievement. To her it does.
I used to be the person who didn't even have any cab apps in her phone until a few months ago. Yes! Well I did install Uber and Ola and Lyft so that my friend and a classmate and elder brother respectively could redeem a discount on referral. But after the free rides, I never used them; in-fact uninstalled them right away. Why? Because I had my family's car or the autos to go about anywhere. My friends used to call the cabs when too many of us had plans and too less autos were around. But, I hated riding cabs then. Since I was the fat one, obviously my seat was the passenger seat, cutting me off from rest of the gang who would sometimes crack jokes that never reached the front seat. Silly reason, I know. But necessity and new city have changed the way I look at cabs. They are my lifeline now-a comfortable and affordable commute. Just like when I thought I would never travel in a bus until I had to one fateful day.
My engineering college in Surat was some 4 hours train ride away from home, Ahmedabad. It was just before Diwali holidays, when some girls in the hostel mess were discussing how they couldn't get their train tickets confirmed and would have to take a bus. They lived in other states of the country, some 12- and some 24-hours away by train (Ok I admit, I don't know distances in kms and so I use number of hours via train to judge how far the cities are). They had no choice but to take a bus trip home and I very bluntly said: "I can't imagine sitting in bus for even 1 hour!" That same evening, I went to the railway station, to catch my train to home, which got cancelled. Engine Burst. True Story. Now, I had an option of boarding general coach of another train because hello, it was only four hours journey. But, I didn't. Right opposite the railway station was the bus stand. With 3 suitcases and 2 bags (girls travel with a lot of luggage), I didn't want to enter the crammed general coach of some train which would leave some 5 hours later. Instead, I ran towards the crammed state bus which was leaving in another 5 minutes. And after standing for 6 hours straight in that bus, I knew I can ride any bus.
Also, when I went to Delhi last weekend for a family function, riding in a cycle-rickshaw was really a trip down the memory lane- memories from when I was a little girl, going to school in the open air cycle rickshaws, wondering how kids travel in suffocating matadors, vans or bus. And yes, of course when we moved to Ahmedabad, I went to school in a school bus, which turned out to be the hub for school gossips and pranks. Yep, whatever I eye-roll at today, I will end up doing it tomorrow.
So this is Me. Living in different cities and embracing their modes of travel. And since I'm an indoor person, so only when I travel or commute is when I really look at the city. I look at the roads, the graffiti on the walls along with resumes of local hakims and propaganda of local politicians, the electric polls and a hundred wires on them, the trees, the people.
