I write this as I eat Ranga Shankara’s Anju’s (Café’s) well known Sabudana Vada, and their magical hot kokam tea on the side. I leave you to find out what magical power it possesses, should you have the privilege of walking into this vibrant space- the ‘Prithvi’ of Bangalore, if I may.
I wait here, for a ‘Khayal’ mehfil to begin. Imagine Indian clasical music with tones of romance and longing, performed by 3 artists in an intimate sitting. A cafe converted into an informal performance space, with people sitting on and under tables, chairs and the staircase. The performance is set to begin at 10 PM. I have reached here 40 minutes ago and the clock says it is 7:42 PM now. I am known to be punctual, but today’s scenario lies at the far end of my punctuality scale- almost enough for it to be off of it. I was already in the centre of the city for a workshop, and I decided to reach early because it was easier and cheaper for me to catch a direct bus to get here. With my laptop in my bag, I thought it would be a good excuse to get back to writing.

I got my answer to the question about travellers’ impatience the next time I took a flight. I was seated in the last row of the flight, with enough rows of people to observe and micro analyse. I was sleepy and it was very late in the night, late enough to be unsure of whether to tell your friends you’re getting home the night of the previous day or the morning of the latter. It had been a long work-from-home day and I had not moved my legs enough in the last 24 hours. I could sense some discomfort in my knees as the flight touched land. That instant, I saw an old man with a frail build throw his restrain out of the window and stand up, just to be able to move his knees and make sure his waist still allows him to turn around. For once (thank you, bad movement habits), I did not want to question why he chose not to remain buckled. In that moment, I wished for a weaker set of morals that would just let me get up and stretch.

Where am I getting with this?
1. Taking the bus more often has put me back into the habit of noticing smaller details, and often given me the time to introspect over why people do what they do, instead of simply throwing around a reactive ‘why can’t people just follow rules’. That and the time to listen to sappy music and long podcasts, undisturbed.
2. If rules are hard to follow, what’s going to get us far is designing for conditions that will make it easier for people to follow them.
3. The public transport experience can be inconvenient at times, but it can only get better if more people talk about their experiences. I hope to do that through this series.

In my pursuit of understanding the public in public transport better, and asking the right questions, I hope I get to take more buses (and trains) in 2025. In 2024, I convinced myself that taking the public transport can be a lot more than just a draining, time taking experience. In the spirit of ‘khayal’ and the art form creating space for the artist to imagine and improvise, I imagine a romantic world where taking the public transport is a safe, fun and non-triggering choice for more people in the coming years. Here’s to making it merrier in the next chapter, happy new year!!