The romance of the University Special

This article is authored by Pushpa Sundar, scholar of philanthropy and civil society writer, New Delhi.

On August 29, the chief minister (CM) of Delhi created a buzz among university students by launching a fleet DTC buses as Delhi University Students specials. If it made students look forward to a more relaxed and affordable means of getting to their colleges, I am also sure it made many old timers like me look back with nostalgia to time when the public utility had become more than a mere means of cheap transport.

Delhi University (File Photo)

As far back as the sixties, when I went to college in Delhi University, the University Specials were, well, something special! Affectionately known as U-Specials no account of university days of the sixties would be complete without a mention of those buses, meant exclusively for college students.

Though very far from the sleek buses unveiled by the CM they soon became indispensable to university students, especially those who had to commute daily from south Delhi to the university campus at its other end. Conceived not only as cheap public transport for students whose pockets had many holes in them, but also as a safety measure for women students who were otherwise groped in the generally overcrowded buses of the time, they soon became an institution by themselves.

The monthly pass, if I remember correctly now, was no more than ₹12. It was a cheap ticket, not to the blues, as the song goes, but to romance which all too often bloomed in these buses.

When I wrote my memoir recently, I could not leave out this phenomena in my account of my university education. I share parts of it below in the hope that it will surely nudge many a rusty memory and bring a smile to wrinkled faces.

“The prestige of a U-Special was determined by the areas it served. Our Special traversed most of Delhi’s elite areas. In a city with stratified housing, allotted according to the rank of an official, you could gauge the seniority of a civil servant by their address. The bus route began in Moti Bagh, home to senior civil servants, passed through our neighbourhood of slightly lower-ranked officials, and then traversed Lutyens’ Delhi’s prestigious roads—Aurangzeb Road (now renamed Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road), Akbar Road, Tughlak Road, and the corner of Teen Murti Marg, where the most senior government functionaries lived—before reaching the Central Secretariat and crossing Darya Ganj to the university campus. Many who rode our Special went on to achieve high positions or renown in various fields.”

As mentioned earlier, the U-Special was more than a means of transportation; it was a setting for college romances. I record, “the route to becoming a couple was not straightforward. One could not just go up to a woman or man without being properly ‘introed’. And ‘intros’ to popular young women or men were much sought after. There were never enough seats for all on the buses and young men would chivalrously give up theirs for young women they liked, and stand near them, covertly looking at them.

There was no running around trees and acting coy by the women, or being nuisances by the men, à la Bollywood films. The romancing was subtle. It consisted of sitting behind the woman and conversing on what one wanted her to hear, or singing a Hindi film song that conveyed one’s feelings. A fellow passenger claimed that a co-passenger was in love with her, and that she had conveyed her reciprocal feelings for him, broken off the affair, then accepted his apology, and restarted the romance on the bus—all without either of them exchanging one word, nor anyone noticing any of these steps. It was all probably a figment of her imagination, but other friendships forged on the bus were real and lasting. Some celebrated on-campus romances culminated in marriage.

What the U-specials hold for the AI generation is difficult to foresee, but there is no doubt that the U-Specials will live up to their name in one way or another.

This article is authored by Pushpa Sundar, scholar of philanthropy and civil society writer, New Delhi.