Shivneri, Sangli, Online Booking and Me

PART1: ~8pm, Friday, 17-Jun

Every time I go to Sangli using public transport, something just has to go wrong. This time round, I booked a ticket for 6pm Shivneri to Sangli from Swargate. After waiting for one full hour at the bus stand, for the 6pm Shivneri, which never turned up, a quick, sane recheck of the ticket printout suddenly made me realize I had actually booked a ticked for 6AM bus rather than 6pm!

So even after leaving office by 4pm, here I am on the way to Peth now, just crossed Katraj ghat at ~8pm (!), with Pethnaka still (at least) 3hrs from here. Then Sangli will still be at least 1hr from there, via a truck, or if I get really lucky - an asiad. Not to mention that there is this constant worry about rain killing those books and laptop in my backpack.

To add to this misery, couple of idiots sitting on either side of me, are constantly chatting on phone for last one full hour. There was a 10 minutes break. But now they have started up again! How fucking difficult it is to stay calm and silent for sometime? Why dont their batteries just dry up? Doesn't their mouth ache due to so much of continuous talking? Don't they get exhausted holding the phone near ear for so long?

If there happens to be a break between all these phone calls, they start chewing something like those salted and roasted peanuts, the smell of which gives me a kick in my guts and strongly reminds me that I am hungry too.

And as if all this is not enough, there are these lamest of the lame and gayest of the gay songs playing in this Kolhapur-bound Shivneri's stereo, that are driving me nuts. I mean I pay premium price for a Volvo ticket and I can't even get a moment of silence forget a peaceful journey? If anyone wants to hear this lame and meticulously-chosen-to-torture 90's Hindi music, he should get his own player and shove those ear-buds up his ... ears. Why force everyone to compulsorily listen to this junk? But that's the way it is, and I need to bear this for 3 more hours at least. Best of luck to myself!

So in short, yet another miserable and fucked-up journey to Sangli via public transport. Jai Ho!



EDIT:PART2: 10:30pm, Friday, 17-Jun to 12:15am, Saturday, 18-Jun

I was partially dozing when I suddenly got a jolt and woke up to find that the bus was standing near a fly-over on NH4. I cursed the conductor for not even announcing that the bus had reached Pethnaka. Hurriedly I got down after one other guy, and thanked my stars for waking me up just at the right moment. A 2 minutes walk after getting down and I realized I had actually gotten down near Karad fly-over and not Pethnaka fly-over. Bravo! It was 10:30pm and it had started raining too! Just what the doctor ordered. Life couldn't get any rosier.

Just then, as if it was all scripted, I spotted a Miraj bound asiad entering Karad, and after a 10 minutes wait on the pavement, I was in the asiad, on the way to Sandli-direct, sitting comfortably by a window seat taking in the cool breeze.

So just like that, I was out of the hours long misery and into a blissful state, sure that I wont be stranded anywhere, and will reach Sangli today night itself. When I am hungry and such a stark transition takes place, it makes me feel like someone up there is playing with me, telling me - "see that fella? see how I can screw you? and then unscrew you too in a jiffy? that's my power. now surrender." Well, guess what, here is a finger for you.

Then I reach Sangli in the dead of the night, eat something, and I get my sanity back.