Bus Travels in Chennai: A Potpourri

Bus Travels in Chennai: A Potpourri
by Ragavijaya Govind

With just two travel bags and a bucket full of apprehensions, I came to Chennai for the first time in 2011, right after my 12th standard from a small town. All the fears that an 18-year-old small-town girl would have of moving into a fast-moving metropolitan city like Chennai pre-occupied my mind also. Fast forward, to seven years now. Life is never the same now. Chennai has given me everything. Whatever I hold up today as mine are what this city has given me. College road to T-Nagar, Cotton Street to the Amethyst, Sangam to Satyam, Prince plaza to Phoenix market city, whiteboard 27D travel to a 12 am lift by a bestie, Chennai has given me a spectrum of experiences, that define every essence of who I am today.

One integral part of my Chennai life is the 23C and 27D bus travel, between my hostel at Kellys and college at Teynampet every day. In Chennai, there are three major types of MTC buses. The blue board or the ultra-deluxe is the costliest one apart from the AC buses in selected routes. Next is the green board bus which gives the express type service and is less pricey than a blue board. The least pricey of all is the whiteboard bus aka ‘Ezhaigalin Thozhan’ (literally translated as ‘The poor man’s friend’). The travel in MTC buses in itself is an experience that one should not miss in Chennai. ‘White-Board’ 27D bus travel every day between Kellys and Stella Maris College has taught me so many things including the art of doing pull-ups inside a fully-packed bus. I mean, balancing your entire body weight on one arm holding the handrails and not to go flying forward into other passengers when the bus stops (once in every 2-3 minutes, literally). The magic of getting inside the always-crowded bus through one doorway and automatically reach the other side with no efforts of your own; that yogic state of mind you need to get into just to hear your own mind voice amidst the cacophony of disparate sound. (Yes, meditation, on the go!); plus all the gymnastics you do to safeguard your purse, phone and yourself; add the unannounced jerks, sudden breaks, sultry space and the congested traffic outside – the list just goes on, about the bus travels, vintage journeys, and many more things about Chennai and its very unique flavour of experiences.

Be it how many years down the line. A night under the stars, a filter coffee in Egmore Saravana Bhavan and a walk after that in Besant Nagar beach is going to feel like home. Be it how old I become, a short travel in 27D from Egmore to Lighthouse is going to feel adventurously blissful. Thousands of miles away from it, Chennai is always my home. For, Home is where the heart is.

Ragavijaya Govind is a wanderer, dreamer, aspiring writer, currently working in urban education space based out of Chennai.