Missing the bus

The terrace at my office building provides the perfect vantage point for one of my favorite pastimes in Delhi - watching people run to catch the bus.

Our office in the city center is located right above a busy, congested public bus stop. Throughout the day, I'm easily amused by the sight of men running down the street as fast as they can with the hope of being able to jump onto a departing bus. Buses here are generally old, rickety, crowded, reckless and unwilling to come to a complete stop at a bus stop.

Despite all of this, people still need to take the bus, so they stand poised ready to run and hop on, literally. As the bus speeds out of the stop, I always see a couple of men chasing after it. Usually, an unknown hand reaches out of the bus to pull the first man on and he in turns helps the next one, and then he the next one. This usually stops after the third one because the bus is going too fast at this point and the stragglers resign themselves to waiting for the next bus.

old and new buses in Delhi

Delhi buses are truly abysmal, but they are slowly being replaced with brand new, shiny modern buses that you would hope to see in the capital of a country that views itself as the next superpower. Some of these buses have air conditioning (for a higher price) and all of them have...get this...doors! What a concept.