I am sure everyone has taken the public transport at one point or another in their life. And I am equally sure that everyone would agree that it is a nightmare in Chennai.
I have lived in Chennai most of my 26 years and fortunately had to travel only for shopping or on the weekends until six months ago when I changed jobs and started working for a software company that does not provide transport. The six months have been an eye opening experience for me.
Everyone in Chennai knows that the roads are deplorable and the sewers on the streets even in the best of summer days. People blame politicians for the bad roads, the sad condition of the buses and generally anything that is wrong. But seriously, having a comfortable journey to work is not a miracle and does not need perfect roads or clean buses.
You just need to have some consideration for your fellow passengers. There is no excuse for leaning over others or stamping their feet just because the bus is crowded. Inertia is not an excuse to fall on a person in the blistering heat. And when someone asks you to move aside, they are not to be blamed. I wonder if by some perverse sense, they actually enjoy brushing against another in the sweltering climate.
Adjusting does not mean having to put up with fellow passengers trying to crush you in a non-crowded bus or allowing someone to push you around while they scramble to get a seat. My purse was once stolen in this rush.
Even as a bus enters the stand, people rush to get in. Even before the bus is empty, the crowd tries to get in without waiting for everyone on the bus to alight. There is a thing called "QUEUE".
Surely the government is not responsible for a person spitting out of a bus window not bothering about where it might land.
I used to pity the poor and so called lower classes of the society. But as I have observed, the unruly behavior and the unclean habits of these masses are the major reasons for discomfort in the MTC buses.
These are really basic manners which even children are supposed to know and follow.Before blaming everyone else for the problems, people need to change their behavior and be disciplined. Just adopting a few basic manner lessons would go a long way in making everyday journey pleasurable.
I have lived in Chennai most of my 26 years and fortunately had to travel only for shopping or on the weekends until six months ago when I changed jobs and started working for a software company that does not provide transport. The six months have been an eye opening experience for me.
Everyone in Chennai knows that the roads are deplorable and the sewers on the streets even in the best of summer days. People blame politicians for the bad roads, the sad condition of the buses and generally anything that is wrong. But seriously, having a comfortable journey to work is not a miracle and does not need perfect roads or clean buses.
You just need to have some consideration for your fellow passengers. There is no excuse for leaning over others or stamping their feet just because the bus is crowded. Inertia is not an excuse to fall on a person in the blistering heat. And when someone asks you to move aside, they are not to be blamed. I wonder if by some perverse sense, they actually enjoy brushing against another in the sweltering climate.
Adjusting does not mean having to put up with fellow passengers trying to crush you in a non-crowded bus or allowing someone to push you around while they scramble to get a seat. My purse was once stolen in this rush.
Even as a bus enters the stand, people rush to get in. Even before the bus is empty, the crowd tries to get in without waiting for everyone on the bus to alight. There is a thing called "QUEUE".
Surely the government is not responsible for a person spitting out of a bus window not bothering about where it might land.
I used to pity the poor and so called lower classes of the society. But as I have observed, the unruly behavior and the unclean habits of these masses are the major reasons for discomfort in the MTC buses.
These are really basic manners which even children are supposed to know and follow.Before blaming everyone else for the problems, people need to change their behavior and be disciplined. Just adopting a few basic manner lessons would go a long way in making everyday journey pleasurable.
I like all the topics you have chosen to blog, expecting to see more such :)
ReplyDeleteHappy blogging...