Walking the Talk

- Published in Oasis in Deccan Herald - 22 March 2017

The Volvo Voyage - a take on the state of Volvo buses on Bangalore roads

Long ago when I saw the AC buses on the road

Their majesty had struck me so much

The plush seats, the AC indoors with music

Their obvious grandeur was such

Two years now since I commute

Seems there is not much luxury there

There are times quite bad when

Travelling in them can be a nightmare

The automatic doors sometimes don’t open

The windows are almost always shabby

Fire hydrants are forever missing

Cobwebs hang freely and Mr. Spider is happy

The aisle between the seats is narrow

You can’t move unless you are lean

People stamp over feet and footwear alike

Till both are no more clean

The tickets are very pricey

You pay the fare through your nose

If the bus is crowded from door to door

Then you walk and stand on your toes

The cooling is quietly absent

The ambience inside suffocating and hot

So, all the comforts I had imagined earlier

Are more often than not, just naught

- 3rd March 2017