Suresh and Ramesh are two software engineers in Bengaluru. That is not the only thing they have in common. The duo faces the universal problem of the city: traffic, a fact of life that spares no one. While one drives to work, the other takes the bus. Who is happier? Whose life is less stressful? Watch the promotional video presented by Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) to know what happens next. All that can be said is that the hero of the video is Bengaluru’s spacious bus. This is among BMTC’s series of public service videos, which comes at a time when awareness programmes such as Nimbus Express Yatra, held earlier this month along the Bus Priority Lane on Outer Ring Road, are being conducted.
Dedicated Bus lane for BMTC buses on outer ringroad near Marathalli bridge in Bengaluru
Starting last month, BMTC has been creating a series of public service videos. Deepak N, public relations officer (BMTC) says: “We have released five videos so far, including three on bus priority lane and two on road safety. The videos are available on all BMTC social media platforms. However, the video that has caught the attention of viewers is one on the importance of using buses to avoid the frustrating traffic. “The video was made by Arvind Ravi, third semester, student of journalism and communications, Reva Institute. We liked it and put it on our social media,” says Deepak.
Arvind Ravi
Arvind, who is 23, speaks about the idea behind the video. “It started out as just another college assignment. I am born and brought in Bengaluru, and the idea about making a video on buses came to me spontaneously when my professor asked me to submit a public service video. This is the first time I have done stop motion. I received good feedback from my professors and they asked me to put it on the BMTC sites. I texted BMTC on Instagram and they uploaded it within a span of a few days,” says Arvind, who says the video took him five hours to shoot and edit.
As for the other promotional videos, Deepak says: “As of now, the combined views of all the videos are over five lakh.”
There have been complaints, though, about there not being enough buses. Deepak says there are at present 6,500 buses. “We plan to add more buses,” he concludes.
