Friday, July 18, 2008

The Bus Stop


A bus stop is a designated place where a public transport bus stops for the purpose of allowing passengers to board or leave a bus, says wikipedia. Driving on the streets of the burgeoning city of Bhubaneswar, I come across many of them with striking regularity. The bus stop shelters, exquisitely constructed mostly out of steel, have a full roof, concrete flooring, inbuilt seats, garbage receptables and, most importantly, a security personnel to ensure everything stays in order. The bright colors of the illuminated hoardings grab your attention and almost dupe you into thinking it’s actually some showroom or retail outlet. All in the name of advertising. The large corporates presumably pay the civic authotities a handsome sum for the brand visibility they get. A chosen few flock these spots, some with ignorant expectation and others with conceited knowledge. Bhubaneswar doesn’t have a single city bus.

3 comments:

  1. Hey, that's not entirely true... I've travelled on the city buses many times. It's a different matter though that they rarely stop at the bus-stops. But yes, by and large, the bus transport system is defunct... buses are a rare sight.

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  2. I admittedly went into hyperbole to drive home the point. No offence intended to anybody. My sincere apologies.

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