As a part of my individual growth plan, I am to attend at least one training in a quarter. So, this training was arranged in the corporate office (as always) which is a whopping 30 kms approx. from my residence. By all means this is long for me, being used to travel less than half this distance every day.
The first thing I had to do was to change my sleep routine – Change the alarm in my cell phone. Not for one day, but for 2 days. Since my colleague had earlier suggested its easy to travel using the office shuttle, I booked my travel in the same, from the nearest possible boarding point ( which was a kilometer away). This shuttle starts at 7 AM, and to reach this boarding point, I had to leave my house at 6.45 AM. For 2 days , I have actually skipped breakfast , plainly coz I cannot eat anything so early!
The travel early mornings are pretty much easier. I was able to reach the campus by 8.15 AM. The training sessions itself is grueling, though fun at times. For a person who has the independence to work with regular walks, interactions with the teams, its very difficult to sit in one place…its as if some one has tied my hands and made me sit in a classroom!
I am writing this to actually tell about the pain of travelling and not training. So, once the training is over, you really need to run to catch the shuttle…its parked a good 10 mins walk. The first day, by the time the training session finished, and I came to the parking lot , the buses were already leaving………..thankfully shuttles leave in ascending order and my bus no is 11 and not 1.
The moment the bus starts leaving, we are stuck on the main road outside the campus. The entire stretch atleast for me is so full of narrow roads, added the insensitivity of the drivers coming from the other side. There are innumerable road blocks.. As soon as you enter the Sarjapur road, the traffic pile up is huge. Moreover, mine is a bus, cannot even squeeze in anywhere.
The entire stretch will take 45 mins to complete, and then, the Koramangala trouble begins. The entire Koramanagala is plagued with traffic…and not 2 wheelers, mind it. Everyone has a 4 wheeler… either 1 person is in the car or it’s a chauffeur driven car with 1 owner behind. I wonder how they can actually travel like that..coz for me, travelling on 2 days itself was a nightmare!
With much difficulty I reach the St Johns hospital junction, and here again its utter chaos… My bus takes the Marigowda Road, which is again choc a block with traffic. Nimhans junction is one more pain, I see the time and its close to 7.15PM, 1 hour since I left office. In my regular office routine, I would have walked to the bus stop by this time , leaving at 6.45PM.
I am surprised, how much of time we spend commuting. As a diversion , I put on my ear phones and tuned to a radio channel. The RJs do a fantastic job of keeping the audience glued to their station. Regularly they update situation on traffic pile ups as well, which is good. But I wonder about the diversions they suggest..not that its not take-able , but coz its not commutable by the bus! So after an ordeal of almost 30 mins we reach the city center, chamarajpet area. The driver took the Mysore Road, and then deviated to magadi road.In my mind I was thinking, not bad, I may reach in the next 30 mins, which is pretty OK. But that was not to be….i was missing one crucial element here…..any guesses? Yeah, I was forgetting the drop points! So since I got in the starting point, my end point is the last drop…FILO : First In Last Out concept. Maneuvering the bus on the main road, my bus driver speeds along the main roads which is not with that much of traffic, stopping occasionally for dropping of employees. Finally, my bus driver stops one stop before , where I boarded, excusing by saying it would cause a traffic jam if he take a road further! Obviously, this is the routine, and he cannot make any changes for one temporary commuter. I checked my watch it was exactly 8.45 PM. I would take another 20 mins to scout for an auto and reach home. The time I reached, 9.10 PM. Exactly 3 hrs after I left office. So many things that I could’ve done in these 3 hrs, but I was slouched in a bus. This was on a Thursday.
The next day also the same torment continued, but it was all the more worse. Coz the normal route of Magadi road was closed, towards Vijaynagar, and my bus had to take a detour. The bus driver unwittingly took the goodshed road , which was a trauma… since all the vehicles had to now ply on this road, there was not an inch to move. The traffic was literally moving at snails pace. And the day being a Friday, Majestic and the Railway station had to be crowded. It was an hour to just cross Okalipuram. Again the FILO concept, and I reached my stop only by 9PM, and I was dead exhausted. To catch an auto is another pain, I reached home only by 9.30 PM. No time for anything, I was so famished, I just gobbled up my dinner and hit the bed.
Thankfully, I don’t have to endure this trauma anymore, as from next week, I’ll be operating from my base location.
Sometime last week, my boss asked if I can go to SJP office again to attend the Quarterly meet , and my reaction, was worth more than a cab ride back.. :)
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