bus rides in India

Okay - so now we know why everyone prefers to take the train instead of the bus.    It is Diwali time right now and the entire country seems to be travelling.  Diwali is the festival of lights and the beginning of the Hindu new year.  Lots of stores are closed for the next few days (which is OKAY, because this means less traffic) and a 2 nights ago the air was full of smoke from the THOUSANDS of firecrackers being set off.  Fun, but loud.    Anyway, Diwali is a travelling time, especially since it coincides with kids' winter break.  When we went to the train station to book a ticket, the gentleman at the counter kind of laughed at us and told us that the trains from everywhere to everywhere are booked solid for the next 15 to 20 days.  Since we were ready to move on from Diu (on to another beach locale, that is), we booked a bus.  A sleeper bus.  What a wonderful idea, right?  Sleep the night away on the bus (we regularly take sleeper trains and are rocked to sleep by the train) and get to the city to then take another bus to our next destination.  All very wonderful in theory.    The reality is that Indian roads are so incredibly potholed and bumpy that it's like trying to sleep with someone banging your head into your pillow.  Honestly, I was afraid that I would chip a tooth in my sleep.  That, or that I would wake up with a fat lip from my mouth hitting Nathan's shoulder.  My teeth nearly rattled right out of my head!  It was so bumpy that when I tried to get back up to the bunk after getting down to ask the driver to turn down the Hindi music at 11pm, I could barely get back up, there was so much movement of the bus.  Nathan had to PULL me up so that I could get my leg up! We both cracked up in gales of laughter, from the ridiculousness of it.    Needless to say, we decided to take a train.  Despite the fact that they're all booked.  Nathan went to "scrum up" at the train ticket counter, hoping against hope that we might be able to get a ticket.    Indians have a very loose concept of "the line".  You see it in traffic (where there can be 6 lanes on a three lane road) and you see it when you try to buy tickets - anywhere.  Really, anywhere there could be a line.  There is a queue up to a point, but then 5 or 6 people from the front of the line, everyone leaps forward and "scrums up", as we've begun to call it.  So instead of one person at the front, 5 or 6 people are trying to get the attendent's attention.  Nathan takes it good naturedly (of course, he could really hurt someone with his broad shoulders), but at some point, he makes eye contact with the person who is trying to push in front of him and says "I'm next, brother".  The Indian will generally give him an innocent look, then take a look at his biceps and nod and smile.  It's really quite entertaining to watch.   He used his crazy north american act to his advantage yesterday, and just about exploded at someone for pushing in front of him.  The gentleman apparently didn't understand the words, but the feeling came through loud and clear.    We got the ticket.  So we will have a good ride to Jalgaon tomorrow, on the train. No more buses, if we can help it!