Travelling ‘without’
Ticket checkers do not exist for the bus services in Pondicherry. There, the local bus transportation is privatised (Isn’t that cool!?). The bus conductors walk around the bus all the time and make sure that all the passengers buy their tickets. They are not like their counterparts in Madras, who prefer to stay stuck to their seats.
The map of Pondicherry looks quite bizarre – like a group of islands scattered in TN. Travelling from home to PEC and back was quite an expedition and I did it for almost three years. I used to cycle from home to the bus stand and take a bus to PEC.
The buses used to be heavily crowded in the mornings and evenings. I used to literally stand on others’ feet with some other standing on my feet. The private buses do not believe in bus stops. The drivers would stop the bus if they see anybody raising his/her arm. Their aim was to squeeze more passengers into the bus, which meant more income.
A friend strongly believed that it is an insult to buy tickets in buses. His theory was simple – get into a crowded bus, never try to run away from the conductor or avoid eye contact with him, play it cool, help fellow passengers to pass money and tickets to and from the conductor. I have never seen him buying his own ticket during those three long years. I was not that adventurous and I religiously spent all my monthly travel allowances on tickets.
In Madras, I have witnessed the ticket checkers nabbing the so called ‘without’ passengers. It is one of the most hilarious sights you could ever see on earth. The checker gets into the bus. The ‘without’ dude pretends to be casual, mostly too casual. Checker asks for the ticket. Dude checks his pockets, purse, bag, around the seat, on the seat, below the seat. Checker throws the I-have-seen-this-before look and stops the dude from proceeding to search the whole bus. Checker gets off the bus with the dude. What happens next depends on the Checker’s mood at that point of time and the dude’s ability to make the checker believe how impressive a family tree he belongs to.
This is something that a friend narrated. It was the friend’s first journey in a local train in Madras. He decided to take a local train till Tambaram from where he would take a bus to Pondicherry. He promptly got a ticket. The train arrived and he got into it. He was marvelling at his luck that he got into a less crowded compartment, while people were squeezing into other compartments. Well, there are very few luxuries in the world better than travelling in sparsely crowded trains or buses. There was this cute girl sitting in front of him. He got himself busy with his favourite pastime – babe watching. Suddenly she became visibly nervous. She got up and walked away frantically. The poor guy was embarrassed. He thought that his stare, which he considered inoffensive, offended the girl. In a minute or two, a guy stopped by him and demanded his ticket. The Ticket Checker. The friend showed him his ticket.
TC (looking at the ticket): “Alright, pay Rs. XXX”
Friend (shocked): “But, why? I have the ticket”
TC: “That is the ticket for general compartment. You are now in first class compartment”
Friend: “Are there two different classes in the train? I didn’t know that. You know, this is my first train trip in Madras…”
TC: “Well, that doesn’t mean that you can get away from being fined”
Friend (annoyed): “I don’t see anywhere in this compartment saying that this is first class. How am I supposed to know?”
TC (slightly amused): “It is amazing. Every person I have seen in you situation says the same thing. How is it possible?”
The friend was almost sure that the girl fled away on seeing the Ticket Checker. He wondered if the girl too had ticket for general compartment or if she was ‘without’. The friend paid the fine amount, which left him with not enough money to buy a bus ticket for Tambaram to Pondicherry. By then, he had got pretty acquainted with the Ticket Checker. The TC gave him the directions to the nearest ICICI ATM from Tambaram station. The friend withdrew the money from ATM to pay for his journey to Pondicherry.
This happened last week. I was returning home from office. There were these five 12 – 15 year old girls in the tram. They were all possessed by Smokin’ Joe and they were smoking inside the tram standing right under the ‘No Smoking’ signboard. They were all trying to blow rings of smoke. One of them even succeeded. At a stop a bunch of Ticket Checkers boarded the tram. The kids were stunned for a moment. They were all ‘withouts’!!! The couple of girls farthest from the door sneaked away swiftly. But, the Ticket Checkers operate in a rather efficient way. They come in bunches and board the trams through all the doors. The kids who sneaked away went straight to the Ticket Checker who got in through the other door. The game ended there. The Ticket Checkers and the kids assembled together, with smiles all around. They even started joking. The kids paid the fine – 20 Euros each.
The way the situation is handled here is a lot different from India. No whining, no tantrum, no drama; things happen pretty smooth.
The map of Pondicherry looks quite bizarre – like a group of islands scattered in TN. Travelling from home to PEC and back was quite an expedition and I did it for almost three years. I used to cycle from home to the bus stand and take a bus to PEC.The buses used to be heavily crowded in the mornings and evenings. I used to literally stand on others’ feet with some other standing on my feet. The private buses do not believe in bus stops. The drivers would stop the bus if they see anybody raising his/her arm. Their aim was to squeeze more passengers into the bus, which meant more income.
A friend strongly believed that it is an insult to buy tickets in buses. His theory was simple – get into a crowded bus, never try to run away from the conductor or avoid eye contact with him, play it cool, help fellow passengers to pass money and tickets to and from the conductor. I have never seen him buying his own ticket during those three long years. I was not that adventurous and I religiously spent all my monthly travel allowances on tickets.
In Madras, I have witnessed the ticket checkers nabbing the so called ‘without’ passengers. It is one of the most hilarious sights you could ever see on earth. The checker gets into the bus. The ‘without’ dude pretends to be casual, mostly too casual. Checker asks for the ticket. Dude checks his pockets, purse, bag, around the seat, on the seat, below the seat. Checker throws the I-have-seen-this-before look and stops the dude from proceeding to search the whole bus. Checker gets off the bus with the dude. What happens next depends on the Checker’s mood at that point of time and the dude’s ability to make the checker believe how impressive a family tree he belongs to.
This is something that a friend narrated. It was the friend’s first journey in a local train in Madras. He decided to take a local train till Tambaram from where he would take a bus to Pondicherry. He promptly got a ticket. The train arrived and he got into it. He was marvelling at his luck that he got into a less crowded compartment, while people were squeezing into other compartments. Well, there are very few luxuries in the world better than travelling in sparsely crowded trains or buses. There was this cute girl sitting in front of him. He got himself busy with his favourite pastime – babe watching. Suddenly she became visibly nervous. She got up and walked away frantically. The poor guy was embarrassed. He thought that his stare, which he considered inoffensive, offended the girl. In a minute or two, a guy stopped by him and demanded his ticket. The Ticket Checker. The friend showed him his ticket.
TC (looking at the ticket): “Alright, pay Rs. XXX”
Friend (shocked): “But, why? I have the ticket”
TC: “That is the ticket for general compartment. You are now in first class compartment”
Friend: “Are there two different classes in the train? I didn’t know that. You know, this is my first train trip in Madras…”
TC: “Well, that doesn’t mean that you can get away from being fined”
Friend (annoyed): “I don’t see anywhere in this compartment saying that this is first class. How am I supposed to know?”
TC (slightly amused): “It is amazing. Every person I have seen in you situation says the same thing. How is it possible?”
The friend was almost sure that the girl fled away on seeing the Ticket Checker. He wondered if the girl too had ticket for general compartment or if she was ‘without’. The friend paid the fine amount, which left him with not enough money to buy a bus ticket for Tambaram to Pondicherry. By then, he had got pretty acquainted with the Ticket Checker. The TC gave him the directions to the nearest ICICI ATM from Tambaram station. The friend withdrew the money from ATM to pay for his journey to Pondicherry.
This happened last week. I was returning home from office. There were these five 12 – 15 year old girls in the tram. They were all possessed by Smokin’ Joe and they were smoking inside the tram standing right under the ‘No Smoking’ signboard. They were all trying to blow rings of smoke. One of them even succeeded. At a stop a bunch of Ticket Checkers boarded the tram. The kids were stunned for a moment. They were all ‘withouts’!!! The couple of girls farthest from the door sneaked away swiftly. But, the Ticket Checkers operate in a rather efficient way. They come in bunches and board the trams through all the doors. The kids who sneaked away went straight to the Ticket Checker who got in through the other door. The game ended there. The Ticket Checkers and the kids assembled together, with smiles all around. They even started joking. The kids paid the fine – 20 Euros each.
The way the situation is handled here is a lot different from India. No whining, no tantrum, no drama; things happen pretty smooth.
posted by Inder | 8:15 AM
3 Comments:
i do not understand what joy people get in not following the rules.if you ask a few, they will very intelligently(pun intended) say-" rules are meant to be broken. we find fun in travelling as "without".it is very obvious that you cannot travel free of cost in any public transport system!what is the problem in bying a ticket!maximum cost of the ticket itself is not more than Rs.7 in madras buses!
and about smoking, no body even cares.they all smoke in public. when they don care for their lungs why woulnd they for strangers around them?
Eggjaktly... Our people... they are all crazy. A friend of mine gives long furious lectures about how corrupt our people and government are. He would conclude that our country is full of illiterates and stupids. He would then take his bike and speed away breaking every speed limit, trafic signal and trafic rule. Crazy.
everyone is the same. a revolution might work. but the question is are people ready for it? this lazzines is gonna sink our country one day. already we are half drowned though
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