Me and My… Amazing Bus rides (Memorable)

Oh, oh, oh, oh
I’m fallin’ so I’m taking my time on my ride
Oh, oh, oh, oh
I’m fallin’ so I’m taking my time on my ride
Takin’ my time on my ride

21 Pilots (Song: Ride)

As Christmas is almost here, the nostalgia from my school life is hitting me super hard. I am the product of an all Girls Convent school (come back next week for a blog on my experience there, DON’T MISS IT (kiss emojis)). I went to school on a bus for 13 years so of course I have tons of stories about it. Be ready with your tickets in hand coz this blog will take you on a ride (pun intended). 

My fellow Delhiites, do you remember the DTC buses? The green ones with yellow and white stripes. My journey started from commuting in those buses to the now popular green low floor ones. As soon as I joined school, I was assigned the bus P-22. The last number in the list of the buses and the weakest link of our area. There were 3 more buses that took students from my area P-15, P-17 and P-20. These were the efficient ones, unlike my bus which was late almost everyday, didn’t arrive on time in the afternoon when the school was over and was the most crowded of them all. 

Yup! This was always the condition of these buses inside out (laughing emojis)

Since the beginning I always had the seat behind the driver. In the old DTC buses the seat was a flat rectangle with a rectangular back. Four students used to sit on that seat. I will literally have to draw and show you our seating plan. On top of this hella uncomfortable seat we had rotations, coz everyone loves the window. I remember when I was in primary school, the senior girl who sat with us was very intelligent. I loved playing atlas with her and in return I had to give up my seat so that she could sit comfortably. You too can relate when I say kids do anything and everything to impress people older than them, right? We had our bags on the floor of the bus and I used to sit on it. 

Here you go! This is how four students fit on one seat.

Now my seat was at the absolute start of the bus, behind the driver. Also that is where the engine of the bus is. I sat on my bag that was leaning on the engine. We played atlas and I got down at my stop and went home. I was too young and naive to notice anything. But when I took off my school shirt, the back of the shirt was stained black. I had no idea how this happened but then my mom reminded me that it was because of the engine. I sat with a girl who was my bus partner throughout school. Her mother used to pick her up in the afternoon. When she found out about us sitting basically on the floor of the bus, she scolded the shit of that senior. I lost my atlas partner that day (sob emojis).  

One such experience also got me brownie points from my seniors. Once my cousin brother came to pick me up in the afternoon. He is 6 years older than me and so were the seniors in my bus. When he came and I sat on the bike with him, all the seniors turned to look at him and started laughing. Now who doesn’t like attention, so my brother gave them a smile too. Then for fun, we decided to follow the bus for some time and my brother had a small talk with one of them while driving. The next day the seniors called me and asked me everything about my brother. I told them everything and became their wing woman for a few days. And that was how I received quality treatment that no one else did. 

Wanted to give you a taste of how chasing a bus feels like (smirk emojis)

My grandfather used to drop me in the morning and pick me up in the afternoon. Those are some of the best memories I have with him till date (I wrote about him too, you can read it right here). One day I left my karate dress on the bus and I realized this when we had reached home from the bus stop. So my grandpa and I traced the path of the bus till the end, at the depot. As we reached and took my dress from the driver, he politely said “you could have taken it from me tomorrow, I keep all things that students leave behind!”. All I could do was smile at my grandpa. 

The most vivid and dangerous experience I had was when our bus met with an accident. So our bus had changed its route because of traffic and was approaching a crossroad. I was sitting at the back of the bus. And all of a sudden the bus stopped and we heard a bang. We looked outside and an auto which was coming at a 90 degree angle to us had collapsed into the bus. The front mirror of the auto was broken and the driver was bleeding heavily from the center of his head. The blood was flowing like water from a bottle. There were 2 kids, a boy and a girl who were sitting in the auto. 

Both were injured but luckily not as much as the driver. The moment this happened, people took down our bus driver and started shouting at him like crazy. Other people took the auto driver and the two children to the closest hospital. The police were called and our driver had to go with them. We waited for 1.5 hours until another driver came and drove us to school. This was the first time in 13 years of my school that I reached at 9 am. The school starts at 7.20 am. The news had already spread that P-22 had met with an accident. So as soon as I reached, the teachers started to ask about what had happened. Later all the students surrounded me to know what’s up. It felt like a celebrity-media encounter (laughing emojis).

Felt like a celebrity and it felt good for all the bad reasons!

The bus rides weren’t always miserable though. We had so much fun making our juniors dance while we sang on the top of our lungs. We played holi and destroyed the entire bus and ourselves with color and water. I can’t forget the water fights with buses from other schools. We wanted the students from other co-ed schools to know that the girls from a girls school wouldn’t go down without a fight (emojis with shades). We stood on the last seats with our heads peeking through the roof of the bus. A full ‘khaabon ke parindey’ moment but better. 

We even got samosas and ice creams from an uncle standing with a bag full and the vendor on the street. All this selling happened within 30 seconds that we had when the bus was just leaving the school gate. Before the bus left the school premises, we collected money and calculated the number of samosas we had to buy. The uncle literally ran a mile to give us food (definitely a fitness inspiration). 

There were times when the bus came late. We used to sit and play in the school while waiting for the bus. I have had countless dreams of missing my bus and I have missed my bus quite some times too. The adrenaline spike that you get while chasing the bus is unmatched (laughing emojis). I will miss the 20 minute naps I used to take and all the nudges I got from other students to WAKE UP saying “didi stop aagya aapka”. Can’t believe I wrote more than a 1000 words on buses (article writing skill pro max).

Another great experience of adrenaline spike! 

Journal Time: I want you to write about the best times you have had when you traveled in a bus or any type of vehicle. We all can agree that long drives are therapeutic. So bring back those memories and be grateful for the good times. Write about it, so that you have something to look back on to make you happy.

Until next time, Adios Amigos.

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