A road trip on the highways is generally considered a pleasurable experience and a perfect getaway with picturesque surroundings, wide roads, minimal traffic and hence less nuisance but all that fun can be short-lived if one does not remain vigilant especially if you have chosen to travel in a bus.

I am a frequent traveller between Delhi and Chandigarh and in most of my travel experiences I have come across various incidents of conspiracy and cheating on the NH-1. Usually, the instances of crime were petty and so I did not pay much heed. However, on my latest trip in the first weekend of this month, I came across something almost impossible to overlook and that is when I decided to write this.

I boarded the bus in the evening from Chandigarh and was on my way back to Delhi. Having crossed the Karnal toll, we stopped by at a dhaba called Mayur Complex for dinner. The bus driver instructed all the passengers that we had only about half-an-hour for dinner and that the bus would leave immediately after that. In addition, the bus driver also asked us to place our orders at the dhaba only after enquiring about the prices. This didn’t surprise me in the beginning but then I decided to take a close look at the rates of the items available there.

Whether it was a cigarette or a small bowl of dal, the price of every item had been kept considerably high and to boot, the quality of these items were not too good. Looking at the prices, I was just thankful that they had spared charging passengers for using the toilets.

This got me thinking why the bus driver chose this particular dhaba in spite of knowing the fact that every item available there was exorbitantly priced. All of us were just finishing our dinner when a passenger got into an argument with the man selling cigarettes. The passenger had questioned the seller for pricing a cigarette at Rs 15 and after that the two got into a war of words. In the end, it was the passenger who had to give up and pay the exact amount asked by the seller.

This incident is not a first and the connivance between bus drivers and dhaba owners to loot innocent passengers is a common problem on most of the country’s highways. Bus drivers don’t stop at eating outlets other than those with which they have a deal. In such a manner, passengers are forced to pay higher amounts at the dhabas and the bus drivers earn a commission out of this.  

In fact, newer methods are adopted in different areas, but with the same  intent, to dupe the passengers and earn quick money. In such a scenario hence, it is important that we remain alert so that we don’t become an easy catch for such crooks.