My Maiden Journey in Rajahamsa

Back to Home:

It has been one and half months since the last visit to my home.so decided to go home last weekend.

It was thursday dated 9th july,i left my room in whitefield at 17.45.Since i'd some work in marathahalli,i went there and when my work was over,the clock was ticking 18.45.Then searched for some bus to silkboard.But all the volvos and ordinary buses are brimmed to the core,thanks mainly to the IT people(That's the main problem of bangalore traffic-you do have only one option to choose i.e road transport).Atlast,got a bus to stand comfortably.Now again so many hurdles in the form of traffic;we literally crawled all the way till agara and managed to reach silkboard at 19.50.Much to my delight,immediately got a bus to hosur to land up at old bus stand around 21.00.Now i felt emptiness in my stomach;hungriness showed me the path to a nearby hotel.And when i finished my dinner,it was 21.30 and it's damn sure that i'm gonna reach my home well past 9 in the morning.

"From the land of IT to the land of temples"

Now it's again a turn to wait for bus and after a lethargic 25 mins,there came an 846 UD to madurai;seats were available and i seated myself comfortably in a window seat.The bus- a typical Ultra deluxe built by "Prakash" in usual Yellow livery with the body being almost in a worn-out stage(Fare-225 INR).The journey was very steady,perhaps,the driver failed to remember there was one accessory named "Accelerator".Parked briefly in a motel before krishnagiri at 23.15 where i enjoyed a cup of popcorn.Shortly after leaving krishnagiri,i began to sleep.And i became conscious when the bus was entering salem around 2.20.Pitiable journey of 4.5 hrs for Hosur-Salem stretch considering the fact that the ride was on a four-laned NH.As usual,salem bus stand seems to be very busy even in the odd hours with people using salem as the transit point for Bangalore-CBE/south and from chennai to west part of TN.

After a halt of 15 mins,again continued our journey.Till namakkal,the highway was occupied by potholes at some places but after namakkal till dindigul,it's a full fledged four-laned NH with vehicles whizz pass one another in the maximum speed.Reached dindigul around 5.30.I was of the impression that the bus would take the bye-pass but the crew's thought was somewhat different.That's the main problem of weekday travel in TNS(E)TC buses that since EEPs will be less,the bus will go for every nook and corner enroute.
Now it's the road to the final destination(not sarcastic..!!!).The NH works between madurai and Dindigul were progessing at a snail's pace and as a result we reached Maatuthavani B.S at 7.00.
I don't know why but there has been always an attraction on my side towards the koodal nagar..!! The city witnesses little development in terms of business but still it looks alluring.

Well now time for again a short ride.From Madurai to Paramakudi;There was a bus in the platform bound for Rameswaram.Boarded the same as driver was in his seat.But there were no signs of starting the bus which made me to the verge of irritation.Atlast,due to timekeeper's compulsion,the bus was started at 7.30 and i reached my home exactly at 9.10.The drive was on NH-49 which initially extended from Kochi to Dhanuskodi via Ernakulam,Bodi,Madurai,Rameswaram.But after the 1964 cyclone mishap which ultimately vandalised mandapam, resulted in curtailing the NH services to Rameswaram.Even now there is no proper road surface between these towns except for a few stretch and after that you need a four wheel drive like trucks ,jeeps bcoz of the sand surface.

It's an whopping 15 hrs journey.

Return Trip in Rajahamsa:

It's Time to head back to work.I've already booked in a KSRTC Rajahamsa spl for the return travel on 12th july and the fare was a huge 450 INR as against to 250 INR in ordinary Rajahamsa services from MDU to Bangalore.(Lalu need to beg before KSRTC officials in learning "how to increase the earnings without actually raising the fares").
I left my home in paramakudi exactly at 30 mins past 18.00 and immediately i got a bus to madurai.Though the ride was not like one would expect it to be in a national highways,we somehow managed to reach maatuthavani Bus stand at 20.15 thus taking 105 mins to cover 80 kms.

The old rajahamsa in green livery in which i travelled.....

Since my bus was slotted to take off at 21.21 and feeling not that much hungry,decided to roam around the bus stand.Being a sunday night,as usual there was a huge crowd for Chennai and bangalore and the SETC officials was busy in managing the mass with special buses.I laughed at them for not properly planning their travel(how many times it happened to me..!!) .I witnessed scenes of autowallahs fleecing the passengers.

When my wristwatch clocked 21.00,i decided to return to the bay where KSRTCs buses were parked.There was one guy infront of the bus,checking tickets and i thought he will be the conductor.I showed him the e-reservation print-out and entered the bus.One Airavath was also parked opposite to us.It was my first travel in a Rajahamsa-the seats were cushioned and there were enough space to stretch your legs.As soon as on taking my seat,it began to sweat like a hell as though i was sitting in the vicinity of sun.To overcome the sweating,i came out of the bus.And the guy who checked my tkt began starting the Rajahamsa and there were no signs of other person in charge of the bus.So,it's a single-man crew and i was wondering how he will be able to cope up for a drive of 10 hrs.My bus left exactly at 21.30 followed by the airavath.

And it's worth to mention about the Rajahamsa buses here.They're the symbol of pride and elegance.This special bus was in old green livery while the new ones are coming in milky white livery.KSRTC has more than 1000 Rajahamsa services in its fleet.

Back to the topic,it was a steady ride from the very beginning and were on par with the Majestic Airavath.Our first halt was at a motel just before karur and the clock was ticking 23.30.Left after 15 mins.Now the drive was at a high speed and it was substantiated by too many jerks(thanks to the road condition too).Soon i was ruled my Kumbakarna's habitual action and i woke up when it was dawn.Oops..!! It's monday and people are busy in facing another week of boredom.At 6.45,i got down at attibele.And the journey took 9 hrs 15 mins for an odd 400 Kms,not a remarkable feat when compared to the puctuality of KSRTC buses.Though not a pretty superb,it was a decent drive.There was a 600 of BMTC waiting to carry me all the way till whitefield and i reached my room at 7.40.The next thing,i did on entering the room,was to take rest.