Halting Bus…

Today’s generation may not know what a ‘halting bus’ is and neither will people of my age who have always lived in the city. But those who know this will not be without going into the past.

‘Halting bus’, both English words, but it has become so firmly established in Marathi (One of the regional languages in India) that even the people in the villages know its meaning. ‘Halting bus’ is our red fairy, i.e. the corporation’s ST[State Transport Bus]. Starting from the place of taluka/city, passing through 3-4 villages and finally stopping in one of the big villages. Once it reaches there, it stays there for the night.

All the passengers will get down, after a while the driver-conductor will close all the windows of the bus and freshen up. Those, who are always in uniform, felt different when we saw them in towel and banyan. Both of them would then spread out after the meal, on the top of the bus during summers or on the first and last long seats during the winters or monsoons.

They would get ready early in the morning and the bus would leave when there was a crowd of people going to the city. This halting bus always like a big support. When anyone used to go to city and met someone from the village and said ‘When will you be back’, the only answer was “catch you at halting”.
After finishing work for the day, everyone used to wait at the bus stand waiting for halting bus. No matter how late it was, no one would complain too much, because there would be people from the village to chat with, and they would think “anyway we are going back to home only, so why the fuss”.

During festivals, Diwali, summer holidays or wedding functions, the girls/newlyweds from the village wedded in other towns would be in a frenzy to finally catch the said halting bus. At such times, the villagers in the bus used to stand up and give the seats to those ladies. If someone was obstructing, the rest would press. Then in the bus, they used to discuss about “how is life going, all well etc” and same got reciprocated by the newlyweds in the bus.

Back in the village, mothers of those girls/ladies were all ears to the sound of halting bus. In those days when there were no phones and mobiles, its difficult to believe without seeing a person in front of you. Looking them at the doorstep, used to felt like anything and they used to praise the halting bus for bringing them to their mothers.

Since the start of the bus, this halting used to have a unique relationship with everyone in the village. From children going to school in the morning to farmers sitting on the top of the bus with vegetables.

Sometimes, if the chief of the village getting late, the driver-conductor would be invited for tea. If there was ever a patient in the village, the driver conductor duo would take care of them. These and many other memories are associated with Halting bus.

With the passage of time, rickshaws, taxis came, any many private vehicles also came to every household. And so the importance of halting gone down and finally it was stopped forever.

But even now, if someone in the village asked to meet someone at some place in the village, “Man, come to where Halting bus used to stop- a landmark” is the only memory we had of it now.

Vb