A journey by Bus

A journey by Bus

A journey by bus is dull and boring. Once we occupy a seat, we remain stationery there till we reach on destination. We cannot move freely in a bus. Heat in the summer and cold in winter make the journey troublesome and unbearable.

I seldom travel by bus, but this summer I had to travel by bus to Manali since the entire family was going on a summer vacation by bus. Our luggage was loaded on the roof of the bus and I managed to get a window seat, much to the envy of my cousins.

We left at 6 O’clock in the morning. The weather was quite pleasant. Sunshine was filtering in through the windows on the other side of the bus, so my side was quite cool. Cool breeze was blowing and it was very refreshing. All family members started chatting although a few elders tried to catch some sleep since everyone had woken up quite early.

We had packed sandwiches and cold drinks which we had for breakfast in the moving bus itself. It was a lot of fun since everyone had to pass the eatables to and fro in the bus. I was carrying story books, magazine and the morning newspaper with me. First I read the newspaper to catch up with the latest developments and then went through magazine for some time.

It was lunch time and we decided to stop at the roadside Dhaba in one of the villages of Punjab. The food was very delicious and different from what we eat at home. Everyone stretched their tired limbs and some people even lay down on the cots for some time.

After lunch it became quit hot. I drew the curtain at the window and decided to sleep for some time. With a full stomach and rocking bus, I full asleep within a couple of minutes. When I woke up I could not believe my eyes. The bus was negotiating steep curves and I realised that we had entered the hills. Tall trees cast their shadow on the road and very fresh wind livened everyone up. The children started singing songs and the elders joined by clapping vigorously. It was getting chilly and we took out light woollen to cover ourselves. We refreshed ourselves with hot tea and started to enjoy the lovely scenery. 

We could see terraced forms, small streams of water and waterfalls running down the mountainside and the local hill people cheered whenever they saw our bus. There were apple orchards, plum trees and tall chinar trees. It was like a dream come true and was just like the story books that we had read. As dusk started to fall, the conductor announced that we had reached out destination.

One didn’t know how time flew and this bus journey was very different from the usual dull and loving journeys. I will remember this bus journey all my life.