You Can Catch the Bus

It's been a while since my last update, so I'll try to keep this light and brief.  I'm getting used to getting around here in Jodhpur.  In my previous post, I talked about catching autos or cabs through rideshare apps and even about how to hail an auto on the street.  With this post I'll give you some insights into how I've been getting around lately. I've been taking the bus.

When I first came to Jodhpur, I absolutely refused to take the public transportation here.  Even though I kept seeing buses around, but they are very different from the ones in Philadelphia, or in any US city, really.  They look mostly like short school buses and I couldn't see any route numbers. On top of that, I had no idea where the bus stops were; I'd see people getting on and off, but it didn't seem like it was at any particular bus stop, just on the side of the road.

Fast forward a few months, and now I'm a local public transportation pro. Why the change? Well, I took a bus with a friend who lived near the Airbnb I was staying at, and for ₹30 ($0.36), I got to my destination and I didn't die, as I much imagined I would. Taking the bus turned out to not be as bad as I thought.  It's still not perfect. As with all public transportation, the advantage is that it's much cheaper than a private vehicle, but unfortunately you're on someone else's time schedule and you get close to your destination, but since it's not door-to-door service, you may still need to walk to get where you're going.

Contrary to my initial observation, there are indeed route numbers and there official bus stops with signage.  But as with many things in India, there are informal, self-made bus stops. By that I mean literally standing on the side of the road to flag down the bus you want, and you can tell the driver to stop in the specific place you need to get off at along the route. You let the driver, or the conductor for the larger buses, know the area of the city or the landmark you want to get to. You pay based on distance traveled, so I haven't had a chance to just get on a bus and ride it to the end.

There is also a method to the madness here, an organized chaos. If you've been in India, you'll know that traffic laws are minimally observed and how people in passenger vehicles weave in and out of lanes at scary speeds. So just imagine if it's a school bus-sized vehicle hurtling through the streets packed with standing room only. When you hail the larger buses, they do a rolling stop and the conductor says 'Jaldi ao! जल्दी आओ' ('Come quickly!') and you have to hop on. That's why I prefer taking the tempu, which is a minivan-sized vehicle that can hold about 12 people, because it's (slightly) less intimidating.  The smaller size also means more in-your-face staring, but also a chance for conversation with my fellow passengers. 

Catching the bus has also been entertaining with a lot of characters, so a lot of times, I just laugh at the crazy.  Ready for some bus stories?

One afternoon, I took a bus with a friend.  We eventually both got seats and a male passenger was between us. Later on another male passenger sat next to him.  A few minutes later, the new passenger got angry at the first passenger and started yelling at him in Marwari (the local language here).  Then the conductor was yelling at the first passenger and dragging him by his scarf to push him out the door and he gave him a final kick off too.  Even the bus driver stopped the bus stood up and was yelling at the passenger as he was literally getting kicked off the bus, and the bus drivers never stop.  After this, the passengers were all abuzz over what happened, but I understood nothing. It was only after I got off with my friend that she explained that the guy that was kicked off was a thief and was trying to pickpocket the second passenger.  I found the whole situation more amusing than anything, but I wish I had understood what they were saying when all of this was going down.

That wasn't the only eventful part of that particular ride.  Later on a young man got on, and I can only surmise that he got on the wrong bus because he got off pretty quickly, but he exchanged a few cross words with the conductor as he got off and then the conductor chucked a half-full water bottle at him.  Maybe he was still riled up over kicking off the thief. When me and my friend got off at our stop, the conductor bought himself a new bottle of water. It was an end to a very dramatic ride.

But not all rides are dramatic, some are just typical showings of how things are done Indian-style.  For example when riding in a tempu filled with 11 passengers, the driver pulled over to the side of the road where there was a mechanic garage. He took out a spare tire that was in the back where we passengers were sitting and one of the mechanics began changing the tire, hoisting up the tempu on a jack with all passengers still inside.  I don't know what was more unsettling, that we were all still in the vehicle while the tire was being changed, or that he was driving on a tire that needed to be urgently changed.  Either way, none of the other passengers batted an eye.

Other rides have reminded me of Philly, with a cast of characters. For instance, in one of the tempus, a man approached who was selling winter hats and scarves and one of the passengers wanted buy something. When the driver was about to pull off, the vendor told him to wait so he could finish making his sale.  Another time on a tempu, the driver had was at a designated bus stop, but we were waiting for an unusually long time.  I didn't have to worry about asking when we were moving because three wrinkly Uncle-ji's asked the driver when we'd move and they complained amongst themselves about how long it was taking.

I wish I hadn't taken so long to start taking public transportation. It truly has been an amusing ride.