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Here comes the Sun!
My morning commute begins with the rays of the sun gently sliding in through my window (along with an unfortunate gust of wind if it is particularly chilly) which drives the sleep from the groggy body (but mind you not the mind). Consciousness slowly slithers in as sleep retreats, the brain fog dissipates and understanding (very fittingly for the moment) dawns!
Skipping Chores
No we're really skipping chores, they are boring, except for the tea ritual. The tea ritual is sacred. But only closest can truly understand the beauty of the tea ritual, and those who understand need no initiation, so we are skipping tea ritual as well.
As I awake, I get my list of morning chores done, and proceed to start the titular commute part of my day. The part this post is all about.
Commute Starts
Right out the Door
While charity might start at home, commute and hustle start right outside. Open door, put on shoes, look at the lift, is it on the same floor as you are? Board it, if not sprint down the stairs, and sprint like you mean it.
Optionally, at this point, you might also have a panic attack about whether you have locked the door.
You hit the road, only to be hit right back by the blaring of horns and irritable car drivers, why even bother dear car people? You are doomed like all others, might as well accept it rather than honking. Amidst all this chaos, you can cross a one way to reach a local tapri, which you can conveniently ignore because, please, Masala Chai is the vanilla tea of India. You shuffle past the aromas until you reach the coveted 📍 Somsaundarapalya Bus Stop dominated by an imposing bus stop on one side of the road, and a more imposing car wash on the other. You stand next to the car wash, if the sun beats down it's relentless rays, you stand in the shade. Either way, you gotta stand.
Feeding the Feeder
You check Namma BMTC the next feeder is 5 minutes away, no time for stupor, time to get into action. The bus is crowded, filled to the brim and then some on peak hours, by college students no less. You board, find an alcove to stand, book your ticket, and hear the bus groan as it tries it's best to book it with 200% load on 1st gear, with a clutch that seems stuck at half clutch for all of the time.
Near college the crowd thins as students get down, if you're by the door, you temporarily alight too, but it's pretty smooth from there. At least until you hit Agara Bus Stop. Where there's a crowd clamouring to get in, as you get out. Bow to the lord god because it's the best thing to do if you believe in Pascal's Wager, and make your merry way through a bit of part/abandoned footpath/sarjapur road (or all three) onto the next bus stop, that's actually just 📍 a patch of dirt that hasn't been tarred (do not believe google maps here).
500s
Here one must apply आमिर खान's advice to the fullest, wait until a bus comes along, check if it's crowded (which it usually is) and if not, board it. Get a ticket, and move to the back. Note that this bus is usually a 500, hence the title of this section. The smooth actionless sailing begins. if you find a seat, you sit and pull out a book, if not stand and reddit/news it is. Either way, you must convince yourself of the delusion of acquired wisdom until you alight.
Closure
Almost There
You will alight at the bus stop called as 📍 ecospace a good strategy is to wait until you have cleared the bridge to get up from your stop. The bus will almost certainly stop at ecospace, if it doesn't look like anyone's getting down, move front and ask the driver to stop. You are now faced with a daunting highway, and a slightly less daunting service road, you choose the service road, because you are not stupid enough to cross a highway with 4 foot high concrete metro median in between.
Other side of the foot over bridge is Traffic Police on Rent (apparently at some point when this blog was written ORRCA was allowed to deploy contractors to control chaos). They will try to block pedestrian movement, buffer it so traffic can move, and then stop traffic while pedestrians move. It is a bit dystopian truly, but hey, can't have everything now, can you? Moving ahead you cross another service road, but hey did you phone the shuttle service. Yep, you need to call a shuttle, tell it to be ready at the pickup point you'll be reaching. Then dodge and weave through the crowds as you reach the ecoworld entrance.
The End
If you're lucky the shuttle will be present, if not, call and speak to the shuttle driver. If you are especially unlucky, he's as stuck as you're but you're now oathbound and cannot leave until he's here and he takes you to the office. You do not want to be a bad passenger after all.
And technically, since by workplace policies, the shuttle is considered an extended workspace, my commute comes to an end.
NOTE: this commute may also be carried out by auto, at a significantly steeper markup and a staggering price of self esteem.