At 4 Crossed the road from Peninsula to wait in front of the Reliance World. Tried
using the Kesineni SMS based bus tracking service, but was faulty on that
day.Called up the number provided for boarding point and was told the
bus was on time. At 4:10 saw an B9R coming and was for a second
disappointed, just then the black B11R (4509)followed close behind. the
b9r started calling out for Hyderabd passengers , while I boarded my bus
and we started moving immediately as I was the lone pickup . My seat
number was 52, the first row LHS aisle seat. Then it was a vary fast
and rash drive through Mumbai traffic to hit Kalamboli by 5:40. I
presume the Shivneris were only driving worse than our driver. We hit
the Express way and it was smooth sailing. We had picked up few Pune
bound passengers at Kalamboli. We arrived at Wakad by 7 and dropped a
few passengers . Again rushed through the Pune by-pass and got in
Khatraj. Here we picked up some more passengers and the bus had about 23
passengers in all. We left Khatraj by around 7:50 and started getting
up the ghats.
At around 8:30 we stopped for dinner at a hotel, at a place called shivpur. This was a mallu run place with so-so food and below average cleanliness. We left this place by around after a not so quick break. We started going up the ghats and midway through found the driver being too cautious and driving much slower. At the end of the ghats he took the bus off the road and stopped it in the shoulder. The driver and the cleaner got off, I presumed for a Bio break or for loading parcels. After a few min i too got off the bus. I saw the driver and the cleaner checking the rear tire. I walked up to them and asked them if it was an puncture, and the driver said no it was an suspension issue. The time was about 9:40 PM.
The driver and the cleaner started doing all their tricks. First they tried jacking up the bus so that one person can go under and move the suspension balloons back in place. I asked the driver to call up Kesineni office and also Volvo to get support. He called some guy and said that Volvo guy from Pune is coming.Then the next plan was to increase the height at the rear by making the back wheel stand on a small rock. Some how both did not get them the result. So they started removing the steerable back tire to get access to the balloon. After a while they put this back on and removed the other wheels and started using an screw driver to nudge the balloon back in place. The time was close to 11:30 , I called up the Kesineni help desk and after a lot of haggling they said , they are still searching for alternatives and they would refund my fare, If i took my one option.
Now I was in 2 minds, weather to cross the road and take some transport to Pune(70 Kms away) and then take an early morning flight back home or to wave down another bus and continue the journey on road. I started waving down any buses that came on the road, then realized that we were at a curve and that too at the end of a down gradient. Kept waving my hand and was at least a 15 VRL buses flying past. A few ACC's and SRS also went by without bothering to stop. Then an ACC slowed down and I also started running when he took off again. Finally by around 11:50 an Sharma bus stopped . Ran up to the driver and spoke to him . He wanted 1000 Rs to Bangalore and told him it was okay . Went got my bag and boarded the bus. Opened my wallet and realised that I had only around 900 Rs on me. Gave the driver a 700 and told him will get the rest from an ATM in Bangalore.( I was so cross with myself, I normally always carry at least 1500~2000 in my wallet while traveling. That day had the same amount but decided to pay cash for sweets and a lot of lonavala chickki ).
We left at 11:50 PM from this place(about 40 KM before Satara), And I was given an seat in the 10th row aisle on RHS. Switched on the GPS to see the drivers doing a max of around 80 ~90 Kms. Decided to inform home and switch off the phone as the battery was only half full. Around 4:30 in the morning we stopped outside Belgaum in a Mallu run hotel . I just got out for a bio break, and spoke to the driver. He told me that the bus was a Shirdi-Bangalore 4 PM service, he also told me that the bus normally reaches Bangalore by 12 noon. Decided to get back and sleep.
The next stop was fro breakfast near Chitrdurga. This was at about 8 AM. This place had 2 other Sharma Volvo's standing including a B11R doing Mumbai - Bangalore. There were also a lot of KSRTC buses standing here. The hotel looked pretty OK. I decided not to eat anything and just had an tender coconut. We wasted a lot of time in this place and left after a good 40 minutes. We left this place by only 9 and it was pretty okay driving. The bus made small noises , but was among the worse B9Rs I had seen in terms of interiors. Not a single mat in the bus including at the door, meant it was full of dust. The seats were dirty and I never though about using the sheet that was there. The driver of course was sleeping in the belly of the bus.
Finally reached Yeshwantpur by 12:40 and took a route through West of chord road and got dropped off in front of the Railway divisional office at 1:20.I got off and reached the ARC Kesineni office along with 2 other passengers. Kesineni guys in the office said they have not heard from head office so can not provide us with the refund. Called up the Kesineni helpline number and was told that they would call back the next day and confirm about the refund. I was so tired, so decided to leave and get back next day for the refund.
 |
| An file shot of the Kesineni B11R. Image Courtesy Binai Shankar. |
At around 8:30 we stopped for dinner at a hotel, at a place called shivpur. This was a mallu run place with so-so food and below average cleanliness. We left this place by around after a not so quick break. We started going up the ghats and midway through found the driver being too cautious and driving much slower. At the end of the ghats he took the bus off the road and stopped it in the shoulder. The driver and the cleaner got off, I presumed for a Bio break or for loading parcels. After a few min i too got off the bus. I saw the driver and the cleaner checking the rear tire. I walked up to them and asked them if it was an puncture, and the driver said no it was an suspension issue. The time was about 9:40 PM.
The driver and the cleaner started doing all their tricks. First they tried jacking up the bus so that one person can go under and move the suspension balloons back in place. I asked the driver to call up Kesineni office and also Volvo to get support. He called some guy and said that Volvo guy from Pune is coming.Then the next plan was to increase the height at the rear by making the back wheel stand on a small rock. Some how both did not get them the result. So they started removing the steerable back tire to get access to the balloon. After a while they put this back on and removed the other wheels and started using an screw driver to nudge the balloon back in place. The time was close to 11:30 , I called up the Kesineni help desk and after a lot of haggling they said , they are still searching for alternatives and they would refund my fare, If i took my one option.
Now I was in 2 minds, weather to cross the road and take some transport to Pune(70 Kms away) and then take an early morning flight back home or to wave down another bus and continue the journey on road. I started waving down any buses that came on the road, then realized that we were at a curve and that too at the end of a down gradient. Kept waving my hand and was at least a 15 VRL buses flying past. A few ACC's and SRS also went by without bothering to stop. Then an ACC slowed down and I also started running when he took off again. Finally by around 11:50 an Sharma bus stopped . Ran up to the driver and spoke to him . He wanted 1000 Rs to Bangalore and told him it was okay . Went got my bag and boarded the bus. Opened my wallet and realised that I had only around 900 Rs on me. Gave the driver a 700 and told him will get the rest from an ATM in Bangalore.( I was so cross with myself, I normally always carry at least 1500~2000 in my wallet while traveling. That day had the same amount but decided to pay cash for sweets and a lot of lonavala chickki ).
We left at 11:50 PM from this place(about 40 KM before Satara), And I was given an seat in the 10th row aisle on RHS. Switched on the GPS to see the drivers doing a max of around 80 ~90 Kms. Decided to inform home and switch off the phone as the battery was only half full. Around 4:30 in the morning we stopped outside Belgaum in a Mallu run hotel . I just got out for a bio break, and spoke to the driver. He told me that the bus was a Shirdi-Bangalore 4 PM service, he also told me that the bus normally reaches Bangalore by 12 noon. Decided to get back and sleep.
The next stop was fro breakfast near Chitrdurga. This was at about 8 AM. This place had 2 other Sharma Volvo's standing including a B11R doing Mumbai - Bangalore. There were also a lot of KSRTC buses standing here. The hotel looked pretty OK. I decided not to eat anything and just had an tender coconut. We wasted a lot of time in this place and left after a good 40 minutes. We left this place by only 9 and it was pretty okay driving. The bus made small noises , but was among the worse B9Rs I had seen in terms of interiors. Not a single mat in the bus including at the door, meant it was full of dust. The seats were dirty and I never though about using the sheet that was there. The driver of course was sleeping in the belly of the bus.
Finally reached Yeshwantpur by 12:40 and took a route through West of chord road and got dropped off in front of the Railway divisional office at 1:20.I got off and reached the ARC Kesineni office along with 2 other passengers. Kesineni guys in the office said they have not heard from head office so can not provide us with the refund. Called up the Kesineni helpline number and was told that they would call back the next day and confirm about the refund. I was so tired, so decided to leave and get back next day for the refund.
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