The Big Blue Bus

Four times a day every day, the residents of the twin cities are treated to the sight of big blue buses gracing the thoroughfares. These buses twenty eight in all providing pick and drop facility to the graduates and postgraduates of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, are a familiar sight for all. A very valuable service provided by National University of Modern Languages, the buses provide a basic necessity to all the students irrespective of their caste, creed or cadre for a very paltry monthly fee taken six months in advance.

In a country where the public transport system is in shambles, the general public face countless problems, rising fares and reckless drivers, the initiative by public-sector universities to provide transportation for students is always a welcome sign, and parents can breathe a sigh of relief when they know that that the most important aspect of their child’s education i.e. how to get to the institution, has been taken care of. But the most important aspect of having transport systems for educational institutions is how one bus is able to save the environment from all the pollution caused by as many cars on the roads.

The NUML Bus Service deserves to be appreciated. I know students crib about the conditions of the buses, that they are not appropriately upholstered or sometimes in the evening, students of two buses are made to sit in one because they are less in number but just think for a meager sum of one thousand a month, the bus picks you up from the nearest possible place to your house and drops you there as well. I remember not one day in the past two years that I ever had to wait for the bus because of any technical fault even if the bus was late a couple of times that was because of the prevailing law and order situation in the country.

The big blue bus is not just ‘a’ bus but a support system, a family for the students who use it regularly. Every semester--- faces change but students forge a bond too strong to break. My bus 19, to be precise was a joyful place to be in every day. I used to feel so happy waiting for it at my stop and as soon as I saw it passing Al-Shifa CNG Station towards Sowan I knew that in another five or ten minutes it will turn round the corner of the cliff bordering FFH. Coming round the bend the first thing that would show was the NUML (written) in black on top of the bus. My heart pounding with pride I would then point a finger at the bus as if to tell the waiting cabbies that my ride was just around the corner.

I remember that when I was applying for my admission I was hell bent against using the bus service, thinking how uncomfortable I would be in a bus, how much time it would take but now I realize the foolishness of my desire. I have had the best time of the past two years in my bus, getting to know new girls, lending someone a shoulder to cry upon and most of all the laughter that we all shared which made our return journey so memorable that more than my days in my department; I miss my bus.

NUML has long been in the news for all the wrong reasons but there is always another side to the story. There are so many plus points about this university and one being this bus service which deserves its share of accolades.