“Awesome” is the most popular adjective used to describe the Double Decker ride by the excited bunch of girls and boys. The Double Takkar Bus brought to the city by Coimbatore Vizha is a big success. “We have so many tall buildings in our city,” exclaims one of them while another student says breathlessly, “There is greenery everywhere!”
As I await my turn along with my three-year-old daughter at VOC Park, the red-and-yellow bus makes its way inside. The red stickers on the bus capture the iconic Town Hall image graphically. Namma Kovai Takkar Paarvai is the slogan painted on its side . Almost as thrilled as my daughter, I board the bus and clamber upstairs to get a seat on the top deck. Coimbatore looks majestic to me from the height. There is a cool breeze and I take in the view of the VOC Park with installations I had not noticed before. The innumerable trees around it made for picture postcard scenery. “Why isn’t the bus moving,” screams my daughter and I distract her by pointing out the bats. There is a collective flutter of wings, a streak of black in the sky, and the bats quickly settle on the branches of trees hanging upside down, much to the excitement of my daughter. A group of college students seated opposite are all smiles as the ride begins.
We have a set of safety instructions to follow. When the instructor blows the whistle once, we have to be remain seated and bend our heads to avoid overhanging branches and electric cables. When it is two whistles, we are free to stand up, take in the views and selfies. We cross the familiar landmarks, The Hindu building, Nehru Stadium, and LIC….and yet, everything looked so different. I realised that the elevation made a huge difference, especially for my daughter. She clapped, and laughed, as she enjoyed the views. The towering bronze statues of Chief Ministers Jayalalithaa and M.G. Ramachandran alongside the existing Anna statue on Avinashi Road gleamed in the afternoon sun. Some of the young college students went live on Facebook while others clicked selfies. At traffic junctions, it is the pedestrians who photographed the bus on their mobile phones while the motorists looked on in awe at the towering Double Takkar.
On the return ride, we swapped seats with the passengers from the lower deck moving up and we descending to the lower level. But not before my daughter protested loudly. The ride via the Avanashi Road Flyover lasts a few minutes and we are dropped back at VOC Park. My daughter wears a big smile. I realise, all it takes is an open bus ride to appreciate the charm of a small town.
