Micro Woes
Many friends of mine compare my bike wid a horse, and I have no option other than to accept it coz its mileage is such that it eats like what horse eats gram. However its not the cause I don't prefer riding bike, its no more same passion when I used to ride my uncle's or brother's bike without asking them (the workshop ppl taught me how to direct the line and start without key). Unless extremely needed, I give complete rest to my metal giant.
That brings to the main story. As riding a cab is jus like being robbed soberly emptying your wallet without protest, micro busses are the very next and only option (forget abt busses unless u have some quarrel wid time and wanna kill it). If you are from an urban area and haven't seen how people stack lots and lots of hay inside a sack, practical illustration is a micro bus (for proper illustration observe during late hours or office time). I remember my management story where the professor fills up whole the bottle wid large stones and asks is the bottle full? Answer comes yes and he fills it with pebbles and asks again is it full? Ans comes yes again and he goes on till he fills it with water. Same is the case with micro busses. Firstly the seats are to go, ppl who ride micro wud be astonished to know that it has only 14 valid seats. Then the slang fuche starts like a meticulous professor. He adjusts 5 in last seat, 3 each in 3 rows of mid seats, 5 above the engine turning backwards (its not seat at all hae), 3 or 4 in front seat and 3 in door side window. There it goes altogether 27, thats double of it.
Ppl who don't get on micro bus wud think thats enough, but who have got the taste of its ride wud know that its jus half filled. Now real filling up goes, here's the real test of the skill of the "khalasi" (for stubborn passengers there's the big boss on the steering wheel). You go a bit back, u get up the stair, you turn left, you get in between, you get a bit further inside, you catch here, you hang outside and last but not least you get up the hood. Worst routes I've faced are the swayambhu route through naya bazaar, which unfortunately is my route and other is bypass jumbo. You never get a seat, if you get its worse coz you will get over a dozen ppl taking your support leaning over you. Moreover when there's time to get off, unless you jump just like the frog that our finance minister often illustrated during budget, you'll get stuck.
You might think its enough, but let me end it like this have you got on the roller coaster in Bhrikuti Mandap? If not, similar is the experience the way micro drivers ride. Added to the entertainment is the bumpy roads which is like a "find differences" puzzle for a kid between black topped and horse road. You will occasionally see the black pitched road on your ride, bit of patches actually. So get on the micro bus leaving all your cars and bikes at home, its the micro woes, you get to your destination and all free fun. Oh I almost forgot, there's fun show also going on in between of the fake cards with rubbered dates, replaced photos and fake signatures.