UPSRTC

Once again this past week I was in Varanasi. This time, though, I forsook Shivganga. Instead I went to Kanpur and from Kanpur took a bus to Benaras.

I was expecting a broken down bone-rattling bus filled with people. After all, this was North. It is the South that is synonymous with good bus services, what with their Volvo buses and reserved seats.

So I was pleasantly surprised by the air-conditioned bus that was to take me to Benaras. The bus conductor told us that the bus would leave at 8.00pm on the dot and if we were going to have dinner we better be sharp about it. The vegetarian restaurant that Mahesh bhai and I went to was neat and clean. The waiter told us to order a thali as it can be served within five minutes. The restaurant also boasted a clean toilet.

The bus indeed left at 8.00pm sharp. There were not many passengers and I stretched myself out on a three seat and slept through most of the journey. It is a completely different story of how traffic jams and cows on the road delayed us and we arrived at our destination three hours late. But buses in UP do work.