I don’t travel by buses that often so I am really not aware of the recent changes made by the government except the Mahila Sanman Yojana for discounted ticket price for female travellers. I traveled from Mumbai to Pune through Shivneri bus under MSRTC and here is my experience and why I feel that women are the true heros and I am simply honoured by the work they do in whichever field they are in.

DAY 1 we headed to Chembur bus depot for boarding the bus to Pune and were waiting for our bus and had our reservations done prior online. The bus came at 8.30 am with slight delay and there was another bus already standing where the conductor was inside the bus making necessary checks and helping passengers board the bus. Our bus halted right behind this bus. We were waiting for the conductor to finish up her duties and then do our checking. To our surprise, our bus which was right behind, flewed away. We were surprised as why he carelessly without validating just drove away the bus. Apparently, the staff said that the driver should wait as there are some verifications done by the conductor at every halt and he was ruthless. As only we were there to board that bus and were not waiting right near the bus, he thought there are not passengers. We headed to the conductor and our first instinct was blaming her for all what had happened and telling her how there was no coordination and how the bus system was so lethargic. Her immediate response was that she was not even aware of any bus standing behind and it was all the driver’s fault. Then in a harsh tone we asked her to do something about it and she refused at first stating she would not accept this behaviour but later understanding the situation, she hurriedly went inside the office. Since we had our bookings online, there was no bus number written anywhere on our tickets. So the first task was to find out our bus number. As there are Shivneri buses after every 15 mins, this was really a task. We could not board the next bus as it was holiday and all the buses were packed and we could only board the bus as mentioned on our ticket. She called up some authority and asked about the bus number by mentioning the bus time. We were bit relaxed as finally we were now able to track our bus. She then searched for the pdf report of our bus but there was no driver name or number mentioned. But it had the passengers list with contacts. She confirmed our names there and decided to call up the passengers already inside the bus. We asked her if we could also try calling some numbers to which she said that it would be a security breach and the authority would ask how we got their numbers. I was amazed by the professionalism she showed in such critical situation. One passenger picked up and she insisted to hand over the phone to the driver and she commanded him to stop the bus right away on the immediate next stop. She yelled at him for his behaviour and why he flewed away. The driver asked her to let go but she was very firm and I must say her one call was enough to scare the shit out of him. She threatened him if the bus is not halted till we reach there, then he has to bear the consequences. She then gave us the bus number and helped us board the next bus which would halt at the Nerul station where our bus had to stop.

We reached the Nerul bus depot and saw our bus there where the driver and the conductor were standing there. Understanding the situation the conductor insisted to let go of what has already happened and she maintained peace. I felt because of her the matter was not further escalated as we were all ready to confront the driver. She handled it calmly and within seconds we boarded the bus and it departed without much delay. The conductor before was fierceful and here she was cool and calm which made me ponder on how women adapt to the situations and make decisions promptly. DAY 2 while returning from Pune, our bus halted at the Shivneri stop and the conductor stepped in for the tickets. She was accompanied by her 5 year old daughter clinging her while she was doing her duties. I was mesmerized by seeing her caring for her daughter without affecting the work. She was printing out tickets and her kid was playing besides her. This was a very ordinary thing but also very thoughtful on how a women adapts and multitasks so efficiently.

Press enter or click to view image in full size

We are so habituated that if someone says “conductor” all we know is that it should be some HE but at each bus station we halted, it was always SHE handling the work so efficiently and with so much pride. Honestly, it was my first experience and I thought of typing it down. Thanks to MSRTC as well. I could capture one of my super heros and I can proudly say that not all heros wear capes, some wear the khaki uniforms!