Just Walking Around
Trams Tam-Tams & Pilots …Unconventional
modes to commute
Ask any young guy or girl or Melenials as they are known,how
they commute in the city and pat comes the reply “ Take out the mobile open the
Uber / Ola app put the destination
check the wait time for the cab and book it . Simple” And if you ask who pays
for it answers is simple “ Dad’s Credit card is already configured” .What about
when these aggregator cabs were off the raod during the several strikes few
months back. And the answer would Oh then “Kaali Peeli hain Uncle” . Wow that’s
great I say. Ask them if they ever travelled in the BEST bus or the local train
few of them laugh at you for such a sinful suggestion. They will say “Kaun jayega us bheed mein” or “Uncle AC
kahan hai usme”.I laugh at my own advice and shake my head in despair. We
as parents are to be blamed for not making our kids bold enough to take the
public transport. The transport we as kids used to travel across the length and
breadth of our Mumbai city.
So the following weekend which was the Republic Day long
weekend when we had decided to head to Alibaug for a short RnR vacation I decided
to try out our public transport and teach my elder daughter Netra how to use
the fastest means of travel to reach a place in Mumbai. Since she had school on
Jan 25th as also oral exams scheduled we could not allow her to bunk
school. So rest of the family members my wife my little one Bhakti alongwith
extended family members went ahead in the afternoon taking the Gateway to
Mandwa jetty launch (boat ) service. Me and Netra had to reach Gateway once she
came home from school around 6:45pm well in time to take the last launch at
8pm. Once she was ready I said lets take the train to CSMT (good old VT
station) rather than a Kali Peeli or
Uber so we can reach early.
And I was correct it took us exactly 20 minutes to
reach CSMT station. Then from just outside the station we took the cities
landmark Red bus from BEST to reach Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum near
Regal Cinema and onward we marched to Gateway on foot to reach at exactly 7.35 well
before the last launch would depart at 8pm. Being a long weekend there a huge
line of at least 50-60 people already waiting there. We joined the serpentine
line and Netra took a food break of sandwich and Frooti back in her backpack.
We spent some time enjoying the great view of the floodlit Gateway standing
tall against the rough sea in the background and the chilly wind swirling
around.
After waiting for
sometime and with the que not moving we got uneasy, and then the Police van
came announcing the unfortunate news . The launches which had gone to Alibaug in
the evening had not returned due to the rough sea. As a result the further
services stand cancelled. Both of us were crest fallen. All this rushing for
nothing. We decided to give it one last shot to try to reach Alibaug. I said
lets try to get to Mumbai Central Bus depot and take the MSRTC Shivshahi AC bus
or in worst case the Lal Dabba. Again we rushed outside to where we could take
the Share Cab to Churchgate so as to take the train to Mumbai Central the best possible way to reach in the fastest
possible time.
Once we reached Churchgate I said let grab some Burgers from
Burger King right across the station as did not know how long and when we could
eat on the way to Alibaug in a bus if go ahead with the travel.Taking the next
train to Mumbai Central , we reached the Bus depot in 15 minutes.
Once there I
checked if a bus was available for Alibaug , a bus was present but filled to
capacity with not even a space to stand . I then checked with the Bus Stand
administrator when was the next bus he said it will be at 12 am . With 5 hour
journey to take that bus would have taken us the wee hours of the next day to
reach our destination. Dejected I decided that it was better we call it off for
the night and catch the 1st launch the next morning at 6am. I could
see the dis-appointment in Netra’s eyes but she understood that it was a good
decision. On the way home I asked her how was her experience of travelling by
these mode of transports and she was enthused to travel more . We took a cab
back home reaching home for a late dinner of Whopper Burgers and Fries and
retired for the night with hope in our minds of making it early the next
morning.
Next day we got up real early and reached Gateway of India
again , this time the line was short and it moved swiftly . We took the upper
deck of the Ajanta Launch . When it left the jetty we could see the Mumbai
skyline light up in yellow glow of the street lamps. The launch moved at an
even pace and we enjoyed the gentle breeze on the deck , it was still little
before Dawn with Sun still below the horizon and the darkness engulfing the sea
ahead. In just a few minutes though the entire scene chaged with the Sun rising
and the sky turning the shade of red and then slowly the sky getting bright. A
gaggle of Seagulls hovering close to the launch and the few passengers on the
deck giving them bread crumbs or wafers to get them to come closer for some
selfie moments. We reached Mandwa in an hour and 10 minutes that was around
7.15 am. Next we had to reach the Hotel at Chondi as we walked down the road
outside we found a odd looking yellow coloured rickshaws locally called
Tam-Tams. A 7 seater with 2 parallel bench behind the driver to seat 6 and one
could sit next to the driver on the front extended seat. I have seen these
Tam-tams all across Maharashtra be it in Raigad , Pune or even in the western
Maharashtra belt while travelling for work. Most often than not the driver
takes 8-10 passengers during a shared ride to make the most of the trip in
monetary terms.
We reached the Hotel in time for a hearty breakfast of Poha
and garam chai and some sugar dripping jalebi’s and some rava cake coursey my
Wifey and my Brother-in law Naazim. It was a great experience using some of the
unconventional modes of vehicles to reach our destination.
But if you travel across the vast country as India you are
bound to come across much more of such unconventional means. Take for example
the city of Mathura , when I was stationed there for a Software project for
IOCL refinery we were put up in a 2 storied Kothi near the city center and the
only means to travel to the refinery were the Phat-Paht’s used by the locals as share-a-ride option. The most
iconic bikes of the Second World War era became a mode of public transport in
the North of India. Imagine a Harley Davidson bike accommodating 10 people.
Well, that’s what a little “Indian Jugaad” (innovation) can do. Popularly
called as Phat-Phat because of the bike’s loud exhaust sound.
Phat-Phat is modelled from Harley Davidson’s WLA motorcycles, which were
manufactured during the Second World War. In the years leading to the War,
Harley Davidson Motorcycle Company was unionized and received a contract to
manufacture a variant of the civilian bike for the United States Army. During
the Second World War, the WLA motorcycle symbolized reliability and was used in
massive numbers. However, with the advancement of communication technology post
Second World War, these bikes became redundant for military use.
In the US and Europe, most of them were sold as surplus. Sold
cheaply, these bikes led to the rise of the ‘chopper’ and ‘biker’ culture,
where they were modified. In India, the Harley-Davidson WLA got a fancy new
avatar and a new lease of life. It was transformed into a public transport
vehicle rambling on crowded Delhi streets, ferrying daily passengers across the
city.
The motorcycles front part and the engine was attached to a
bright rear passenger-carrier covered with an umbrella, often painted in some
bright hues.
Somewhere along the journey, the Phat-Phat was redesigned to
seat six to eight passengers. In reality though, these were seen ferrying at
least ten passengers. If circumstances and size permitted, the enterprising
drivers would have two more passengers sharing their own seat.
Across the river from Mathura is the Temple
town of Vrindavan a sleepy little place with small bylanes for streets but a
sacred place for Hindus due its importance as the town where Lord Krishna grew
up and many a temples built to honour the great lord of pure love . On one of
the off days I and my colleague ventured out to see the beautiful temple of
Banke Bihari right in the heart of Vridavan. To reach there we took the Phat
Phat from Mathura upto the main chowk of Vrindavan and then asked some locals
for direction to reach the old heritage temple. We were told the best option
would be to take the cycle rickshaw
.So we hopped on to one and asked the
rickshaw puller to takes to the temple. And rightly so the bylanes were so
narrow that it could accommodate these
cycle rickshaws and may be a person walking besides them. On reaching the
temple we soaked in the sights and sounds of the centuries old wooden pillared
temple with the most beautiful and innocent looking Banke Bihari Krishna. As we entered the temple premise we
could see the pillars and roof smeared with bright pink Gulal . When we asked
ablut the same we were told that the temple plays host to the Colourful Holi
festivities for 5 days when the locals and tourist alike enjoy playing with
Abhir and Gulal like the Lord himself did with his fellow friends , gopikas and
his devotees . We had reached during the evening Aarti time and so stayed back
to experience the once in a life time spiritual experience. As the Aarti ended
loud shouts of Hathi Ghoda Palki Jai Kanhaiya Lal ki and Banke Bihari Lal ki
Jai went up in the air .
When I travelled futher east to Kolkatta I could see even
more options of travel. Besides the State transport buses there were the big fat & completely yellow
old Ambasador cars turned into taxis. Travelling in them brough back memories
of childhood when I used to travel in my maternal Uncles prestine white
Ambasador Mark IV with its spacious rear seat which was more like a sofa seat .
Even the front seat was a sofa seat as the gear being part of the Steering
wheel giving enough space for the co-passengers sitting next to the driver.
You
can also travel the city streets on Cycle rickshaws and till a few years back
you had the Human rickshaw pullers who would pull and run taking the heavy load
of their Bhadralok’s.
These hand pulled rickshaws are banned by the honorable
Supreme Court and by law as it took into consideration the plight of rickshaw
pullers and their inhuman conditions of their bleeding feet on tar / concrete
roads and most pullers suffering from an eventual TB related death due to
poverty and malnutrition on the meager wages they earned from their trade.
Moving around in Kolkotta is cheap though as you can still
hop on to a running tram chugging gently on the roads taking the passengers
from point to another. These relics of the past are very environment friendly
as they run on electric cable which runs like a spiders web all across the
older parts of the city. Trams are known to be fun to ride with its mild speed
and old world charm.
Did you know even Mumbai had a network of tram lines and
station well into the late 1960’s. the idea of mass transport system in Mumbai
was originally proposed by an American company in the 1860’s. Envisioning a
horse drawn tramway system , the American company proposed a system that would
connect Pydhoni ( Central Mumbai) with Colaba (the southern tip of the city).
At the time during the American Civil War, Mumbai had advanced as a global
exporter of raw cotton to the United States. Unfortunately after the Civil War
ended in 1865 Mumbai’s cotton production declined and the entire country fell
into an economic depression. Due to the depression the proposed American
tramway system was never implemented.
But in 1873 with the permission on the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) , Bombay Tramway Company Ltd (BCLT) the
earlier avatar of BEST was licensed to begin perating the horse drawn trams
throughout the city. Nearly one year after its establishment the company
started operating 2 routes from Pydhoni (Dot #11) to Colaba / Sassoon Dock (Dot
#1) and from Bori Bunder (Dot #5) to Pydhoni (Dot #11) . Despite
revolutionizing transportation within the city, the initial horse drawn trams
were not popular with the residents in Mumbai because they were perceived as
expensive and slow.Due to lack or ridership the company closed down the horse
drawn tram system in 1905.
Shortly afterwards in 1907 the Bombay Electric Supply and Tramways Company (BEST) purchased Bombay
Tramway company Ltd (BTCL) and began operating the city’s 1st electric
tram system. The electric tram system was incredibly popular with the local
Bombay residents because of the price and the comfort of the system. Soon the company
added additional routes to the tram network introduced Double Decker trams and
even began the Red bus service inspired
from the London bus service .The tram and bus network covered the entire city .
In 1964 because of low ridership operating losses and
inefficient technology BEST company shut down the nearly 100 year old tram
system. The company still continued operations of the city’s bus network which
to this day represents an integral part of Mumbai’s transportation system.
"Kahin Building, Kahin
Traame, Kahin Motor, Kahin Mill..." - the vanished trams that the '60s Bollywood hit
had immortalized may soon make a comeback, not in their old trundling form, but
in a modern avatar.
Recently , while speaking on the coastal road
project in Mumbai, Union Minister for Environment Prakash Javadekar announced
that trams may be part of the multi-modal corridor planned between Nariman
Point and Kandivali.
The draft notification, he said, "mentioned
that the metro, buses and trams could be included... The electric tram runs
fast. If anything of that sort is incorporated, it will help the people."
May be these old world transportation will add to
the charm of the maxim city making traveler and tourist friendly.
Another unique mode of transportation that Uber and
Ola are trying to start is the Bike cabs . Since the traffics situation in most
metro and big cities getting bad to worse with long taffic jams the latest
trend is that people are shifting from cars to bikes . Much easier to zip past
and manoeuvre in the traffic . They have been doing pilots in cities like Pune
and Ahmedabad where the response has been great. But there is one state where
Bike taxis have been part of the roadscape since last 30 years is Goa. There
they are known as Pilot . Painted black and yellow like
auto-rickshaws or taxis, these two-wheeler motorcycle pilots are found waiting
for passengers in almost all towns, cities and even villages, along 1200 km of
major and minor arteries of Goa. The unique
system of motorcycle pilots started during the Portuguese rule in Goa. It was
later recognized by the Indian government and the Motor Vehicle Act in 1979.
Today, it’s a
well-regulated business carried out under the watchful eye of the State as well
as a code of conduct willingly formulated by the Pilot’s Association.
Struggling
with a handful of papers and files or carrying luggage? Need to rush to work or
have an urgent appointment in court, a government office or an interview?
Late for school or college? Motorcycle pilots swoop
in to rescue you from distress.
They ferry
the day’s newspapers to the remotest village before you wake up. Take you to
visit relatives untraceable on Google maps. Hired to drop tiny kids to
Kindergarten, young girls and married women rely on them to reach their
destinations safely. You would not come across any eve-teasers, street
fighters, hirelings or drunkards among pilots as they go strictly either by
self-discipline or their own code of conduct. They even censure or reprimand
each other for any misbehavior.
A motorcycle
pilot is also considered ‘a trusted neighbor, guide, helper in good times or
bad and a trustworthy friend’. Staying far away from all forms of rash
riding even if their clients coax them to. There are a negligible amount of
rash riding incidents involving motorcycle pilots in Goa.
So if you are
an avid traveler or even the regular commuter do go beyond the app based
aggregator cabs and experience the charm on any city / place you visit by
travelling in the local mode of transport. You will experience the trill and
adventure associated with the place and also be able to catch the sights and
sounds which you are sure to miss in the AC enclosed environment of the Uber /
Ola cab..
Have fun ,
travel wide , stay safe and experience the thrill.. Happy journies and make
some happy memories..
