I had a month long trip to my native place in Kerala with a definite purpose behind it. I wanted to get some certificates, and only had a rough idea on how to go about accomplishing it.
My first and foremost thought was about the place to stay as it would decide the travails of our daily commute, as I could not afford individual transport. In the interior places, it is still a trapeze act while traveling in the mini-bus (often referred to as the kutti-bus). While the 'kili' will push you inside as soon as you are able to board the bus, the 'conductor' will urge/implore you to move along the way where there is already a human mass. This exercise is a continuous one and will cease only when you have to get down jostling for space while guarding your valuables lest it is picked up by expert hands. In the privately operated buses there is one more character, who is called checker, who asks you about your destination and ensures that the conductor collects the fare from each passenger.
The drivers of these mini buses are a peculiar lot too. He is a person whose sole responsibility is to see that there is no other moving object in front of his vehicle and he ensures that the bus reaches the places/stops ahead of other buses. And by this, he ensures that his mini bus, picks up the crowd of people at that particular stop. He seems to have no time for a smooth driving experience, nor is he bothered about the hapless commuters who are precariously struggling to balance inside the overcrowded mini bus. He negotiates the sharp curves in such a fashion that the passengers get swayed violently as he has not reduced the speed of the vehicle. And then he looks back at his hapless captives with a inviting smile on his face expecting an applause for his action.
The bus owner in his wisdom has provided seats in which you cannot get in, as the space between each seat is just too little. Instead he has provided more vacant space for passengers to hang on to the overhead steel rod for their dear life. I had a few words with a fellow passenger about the nature of the seats provided in the bus. He blamed lack of supervision from Government authorities who issues the license for the bus. When I pointed out the bus owner could have on his own could ensured comfortable seating arrangements in his bus, my fellow traveler was of the firm opinion that it was the responsibility of the Government authorities. As usual, I lost the interest to continue with my point!
Now there is also reservations made on the seats - some are reserved for ladies, some are reserved for senior citizens and handicapped passengers. 
In buses which are operated by transport corporation managed by State Government one seat is even reserved for conductor. In one particular bus the seat next to the conductor was reserved for 'andhan' (a sightless person), though how he would locate the seat in an over-crowded bus is beyond me.
The good thing about these 'kutti' (mini) buses are that they connect the interior places in the state with the nearby towns and provide a cheap and fast means of transport. While doing so, the majority of passengers endure the small irritants which only encourages the bus operators to solely look at their profit margin only.
There is another class of passengers in the bus who deserves our sympathy the most -- the students traveling to their schools/collages. As they are required to pay only a fraction of the normal fare, they are not allowed to board the bus, at least at the starting point, till the normal fare paying passengers board the bus and fill it up to its full capacity. These students are never able to get a seat, as at any time a normal fare paying passenger may signal and board the bus. It is a struggle to travel in the crowded buses with a small load of books in the backpack. The only consolation is that backpack allows free movements of both hands to hang on the overhead steel rods. No marks are given for the correct guess on how short, small students could reach the overhead steel rods for an uneventful ride, though.
Picture taken from KSRTC website.
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