Morning Commutes
My first commute was in kindergarten when our maid used to walk me to school in the morning and bring me back by 3pm. Though it was less than 1Km walk, I felt that school and home were a long long way away.
With my first commute to kindergarten being a smooth one, my next commute was from a village to a town in a passenger train. In my 1st standard (and my brother's 4th), we were transferred to Kyathsandra (15 Km away from Tumkur). Bangalore-Tumkur passenger train was the mode of transport.
Train travel was a great experience. Standing on the platform, we (my brother and I) were welcoming the coal engine with a great gushing sound. Once we boarded, it was a 15 minute travel to Tumkur. A 5 minute walk from the station was our school. In the evening, the train was scheduled to leave Tumkur at 5:30 pm sharp. But, our school had evening prayer session which extended beyond 5:30pm. With permission granted with great difficulty, we were allowed to skip the prayer session to catch the train.
It was a just another day when I and my brother ran all road and the platform to catch the train at Kyathsandra. With tears in my eyes, I boarded the moving train first and then by brother jumped in. By the time we returned home in the evening, our mom knew that the kids boarded a moving train! She was informed from all sources in the village. From then on, no running for the train – dad will drop if we are late.
Dad dropping us in his MEE 7208 scooter was more fun than the train one. There was a railway crossing which blocked the road for some goods-train which looked like never ending in that time running moment. Here is how the scene looked. Dad riding the scooter with a helmet (old style), a muffler, a big cooling glass, nose filters, one small kid behind him and one bigger kid behind the smaller kid. The kids had bags and lunch boxes too. We 'three musketeers' used to take a off road deviation (few meters right of the gates) to avoid the railway crossing when the gates are closed. After few months, we all moved to Tumkur and we lived a block away from our school. We used to come home for lunch.
After we moved out of Tumkur during my 3rd Standard, we moved to Shimoga where we were first introduced to going to school in an auto. Then, our preference was to get a better auto – back-engine auto was lot better than front-engine ones. Our so called 'auto-uncle' had a good back-engine auto which was fast and quick. He used to take 5-6 kids to school daily. One kid used to get an opportunity to share the seat of 'auto-uncle' and the rest had to fight in the back.
After Shimoga, it was Hubli. Here, our house was 2 Km away from school. My brother and I walked together – We two, two school bags, one lunch bag. For my brother to carry lunch box all the way was not justice. Me carrying it all way was not justice too! So, here was our deal. We had something called, 'pit-stops' where we exchanged hands for that bag. In all, each would get to carry it two times. After a year, this routine was broken as my brother moved to high school.
In my high school, cycle was the best option. Going to school on a cycle was a promotion compared to going by walk. Relying on cycle was good to a certain extent, but not too much. Sometimes, a puncture noticed minutes before school would turn the day to a bad start.
When we moved to Bangalore, for few months, I was made to go in a school bus. This was similar experience as an auto with lot of fighting and shouting inside for good seats. I was the last to get on the bus, and I didn't get space to sit. To compensate, when returning, I used to run for the seat after school.
In my pre-university, it was combination of cycle and, a very special toy vehicle, Sunny! Sunny was a 50cc engine which was very simple to repair. Most of the times, I was into doing one thing or the other to it. Most common problem was with the choke system. It didn't start right when the engine stopped. Call it – starting trouble.
In Bachelor's, I got promoted to Suzuki Samurai – no problem. Absolutely no problem for a single day. It was so good. Put petrol, ride it. This was the time many of my friends had motorbike – typical Bachelor's degree student with a light- weight bag hanging on his back. When I moved to US, travel to college was very simple – a small walk or a 5 minute local bus.
After I started to work in Boston, I first used the underground rail system of Boston. This was (is) really efficient. With car after my first year, I drove my car to train station and took the local train with travel time being 20 minutes.
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