Raj Travels - Never Again !

I was travelling from Hyderabad to Chennai via Raj Travels AC VolvoBus just the day before Diwali . The normal hours of tarvel between the two cities is maximum 11-12 hours .

At the bus stand , I found a very eager crowd waiting . Most carrying sweets , gifts , new dresses etc . I was also equally excited as that would have been my Diwali at Chennai . Least did the other passengers and myself know that the Raj Travels had solely taken the responsility of making our Diwali Special !

Seeing most of the crowd to be from Hyderabad and Hindi speaking areas we all convinced the conductor to play Shah Rukh Khan's "Don". Usually in night bus journeys , most passengers hardly talk to each other & sleep as soon as it gets dark.The next morning around 6am , the passenger next to me was expecting to drop at Vijawada . From 6am , it became 7am , the bus didnt stop . Also the conductor and the driver assumed we are from a different planet and did not think even once of stopping the bus , so that we could make our gall bladders relax . 7:30 am was the expected time to reach Chennai .

Out of curiosity , around 8:30am , I went to the driver and asked him in broken language , as to when will Vijaywada come , so that I could tell my friend to pick me up at Chennai at the right time . Posing as if I committed a sin , by asking this , the driver gave me a stare and said 12 noon.

All ears were up by the very sound of noon . The news spread like wild fire and we all asked the driver to stop the bus . We saw the sign board and realised the Chennai was another 235 kms far !! Hell broke lose .The driver & the conductor were bombarded with questions . All wanted to reach home to light the Diwali Diyas . After intensive interrogation the driver told he had taken the Hyderabad - Tirumala - Tirupati - Chennai route as Raj Travels had taken money from 1 passenger for Hyd to Tirupati .

As expected the people wanted to come down to blows for wasting the time of some 20 odd passengers just because Raj Travels wanted to make some Rs 700 extra from that one passenger . All hot headed people asked the driver to freeze the bus at Tirumala . One of us , took away the keys from the driver and called up the local Police Station . We even approached the local Police Man at the bus stop , to interrogate Raj Travels , for hiding the route from us and promising each of us a safe arrival at Chennai at 7:30 am . Everyone wanted a refund . People having flights to catch were even ready with their flight tickets copies . To add to the confusion , little children in the bus were crying . Nothing worked out . The Police gave all show of the danda but zero action . I clicked pictures of the commotion and told my fellow passengers , that I would surely post this article on the web . The Raj Travels guy at the Chennai Desk easily kept blaming the Hyderabad RT guy .

The driver said he was doing what he was ordered and we need to catch hold of Raj Travels Authority . After having lunch / brunch , around 12 , we sat again in the bus with the hope of reaching Chennai by 4pm , but this time we were not silent passengers .

We all had interacted enough , even exchanged phone numbers and email ids . A lot leaders were born that day , who were ready to make a call for justice , but the implementers were mute and deaf .

We learnt a lesson , never to travel by Raj Travels again . That day Raj Travels gained infame for giving the least consideration to its customers . I suppose none of us ,will ever forget the selfish deed by the Raj Travels body . Even the driver did not open his mouth , unless he was grilled to speak up . But it is for Raj Travels to ponder , how much physical inconvenience they caused to the passengers and how much havoc they played with the time of the passengers by making a 12 hr journey to a 22 hr journey !

Undoubtedly we had a very memorable Diwali and never to forget the free of cost sight seeing of Tamil Nadu !