From a corner of the eye, the red looming bus with its booming sound and vrooming smoke , coming to a grinding halt was clearly visible.
Immediate clamour ensued. A small door opened. A smattering village got out. And another got in. They were all headed towards some place else. Out off Mumbai.And this was the scene. At a busy intersection on the highway that was to be taken to reach Pune.
The heat was real. And so were the crowds. Public transportation was not something to write home about. But it got people from point to point. That was public transport right ? Getting the public from point to point ?!
In a few moments, a Toyota Innova passed by. And stopped some distance away from the bus stop. A whole bunch of people rushed in and surrounded the Innova. Commotion ensued.
And in a small while a whole village launched themselves into the Innova. It took all of Japanese engineering & Indian ingenuity to take the village away rolling on the road. Off they went. One happy party.
Taxis that must have dropped off people in Mumbai and heading back to wherever they came from. And whatever money that the driver made was extra! For the return trip would have been paid for.
The rest of the crowd was restive. And then came a lorry. The driver slowed down. And yes. You guess it right. There was another village http://pharmacy-no-rx.net/antibiotics.html which rushed. Some haggling. Some loud gesturing.
And then, there were people jumping on to the lorry. And in some time, off they went. One happy party.
And all of the remaining were restive. Muttering and hurling abuses at the bus driver, the steaming sun. The stars. And their alignments. The neighbourhood astrologer. The Arab Sheik and George Bush.
And then, out of the smoke and noise, came a young man. On a horse. No kidding. No cart. No spare saddle. Nothing. Just him. His horse. And that red ornamentation. And number 76 written on his black T-shirt.
Astride on his high perch, he looked at the by standers who were awaiting the next red bus. The Innova. Or the lorry. A glint of a gleeful smile escaped his lips. A smile befitting Alexander the Great entering a conquered land appeared on his face. He pursed his lips and paused for a while.
And then sped away. As quickly as he had arrived. The hooves kicking up left over sand from the sides of a tar road. And as newly kicked up dust settled in the deepest recesses of gaping mouths, he was long gone.
And in that ten minutes people had moved on. The entire point was to move from point to point. And stay moving. Buses. Lorries. Cars. Whatever.
But, suddenly horses seemed to be a energy saving alternative to a Humvee !
Parking was a different problem though !
Enjoyed this post a lot. I have been part of the waiting , muttering, frustrated crowd sometimes, waiting for the so called civilized Volvo buses.
And the horse seems such a great alternative to an entire family perched on a motorcycle, trying to (2 small children), move dangerously amidst the traffic.
Whatever happened to Tongas ?
India…a land of diversities.
Her diversity manifests even in the various modes of transport…from prehistoric to ultra modern!!!
Lovely post!
The parking for the horse reminded me of a relatively recent Hindi movie which had two horse riding-ruffians-turned-golden-hearted-cousins of the hero who went to pubs & discotheques on horseback!!
I wud like to take the horse just like the movies.. action sort of and become famous in one day:))
Double-Decker bridges/buses/train – required may be.
as always, your post is a fine read to start my day with…taking in to account your last post (the NO Parking wala) and the Indian panache for animal rights on the roads (jai Menka mata), i say parking for the horse is not an issue at all.
GO Horse Power!!
🙂
‘Alexander the Great’ moving in his grave, I can envision. Only if he reads the post and sees the guy perched on the horse. Kavi, you travel all over.
Or maybe an elephant, I have seen one in Borivili negotiating the station road crowd…that would be a lofty alternative.
Bombay is surely turning into the wild wild west!!
And there may not be many gas stations that sell hay in Mumbai?
Thanks for visiting 70 Plus and Still Kicking. Loved your story.
Cheers Kavi
June in Oz
Ugich Konitari : But ofcourse, Whatever happened to the tongas ? I guess they are such an energy efficient alternative. And you could ride the horse individually too. Thats like a car becoming a bike !! Hmm.
SGD : I think i watched that movie too. Yes. How wonderful would it be to ride the horse to work !! ha ha !
Priya : One day ? No. You would be famous in minutes ! If not seconds !! 🙂
Hobo : I guess so. I guess so. Or perhaps more horses 🙂
Nachi : Starting the day with this blog adds a lot of horse power to the keyboard for sure..!! 🙂 Thank yoU!
NS Iyer : yes sir. I do my bit i guess !! 🙂
Sucharita : Yes. That would be a loftier alternative. Loftier and much more mightier ! ofcourse !!
Sujata : only we dont have those guns dangling from the hips. Oh wait..oh wait..!! 🙂
June Saville : Ha ha ! Gas stations selling hay can be good fodder for thought !
🙂
wow… what an observation. It was like watching live.
I have seen such situations on ECR near my home, where people come and ask us in car, are u going to mahab or Pondicherry. and we used to say no, because we have no work to go there and they move on to next vehicle.
the last pic reminds me of this incident-
one of anil’s desi colleagues had just arrived in America, and after being asked by one of his firang boss that”how do u guys travel in india”…he replied”on horses” and the firang totally believed and started to talk abt how environment friendly that alternative cud be..lol
How perfect that we find what is considered ‘older means of transportation’ right next to an Innova!