CHENNAI: On Monday, the second day of the strike, I was one among those thousands who got stranded in the city because of the bus strike. As someone who depends on public transport, I was standing in the Saidapet bus stand along with 100 others around five in the evening, waiting for a bus to Tambaram. What is supposed to be an hour’s journey from Saidapet to Tambaram got stretched to almost four hours on Monday.
The arduous task of waiting in the rain, where there are no bus shelters, was difficult, to say the least. There was no bus for almost half-an-hour. In the two-and-a-half hours that I had spent at the bus stand, there were not more than 10 buses in what is supposed to be one of the prime bus routes. That’s when I decided to take an auto or taxi. I hardly knew how brave a thinking it was to even imagine an auto for almost 22 km until the auto driver told me the rate. After I strenuously explained to him where I exactly wanted to go, he said, “500 rupees.” It’s month-end and I felt like he was expecting me to give away my entire bank balance.
By this time, others around me were trying various means to somehow reach home. Some made frantic calls; some tried squeezing themselves into crowded buses; some bargained with auto drivers and a few were just standing, expecting a miracle. My next target was a call taxi: but I was told that the next cab would be available only after three hours. It was almost 6.45 pm and the rain had started to pour. Though I could see a few buses, none would take me even somewhere close to my area. Even if it did, there wasn’t space to even get a foot in.
I tried my luck with share autos and autos to reach Guindy station. But whatever came my way was already overflowing with people. The commuters were pooling in to take autos. It was almost 7.30 pm and I quickly roped in Kala and Kamakshi, two commuters, to take an auto to Guindy station. “I have to go to Porur. I have asked my husband to come to Guindy station,” said Kamakshi. Kala also had to travel all the way to Porur.
Battling the traffic, arriving at Guindy, wading through the waterlogged railway station, standing in the long queue at the ticket counter, landing on the platform, I saw an unusual crowd. Everybody seems to have had the same idea of taking the train. I was relieved on getting down at Tambaram station finally, at 9 pm.
