Like many children his age, Joel D’Souza had a passion for collecting coins and stamps, among other things, while he was growing up. But what sets him apart now is his collection of bus tickets.
A first PUC student of at St Claret Pre University College, Joel started collecting bus tickets when he was in the second standard. Interestingly, his collection never began as a hobby.
“When I was small, we used to travel by bus to many places in and around the State. And everytime we did, I would keep the ticket with me in a box and slowly, over the years, the collection grew. I was too small to even realise that it would become a hobby,” says Joel.
Till today, Joel has not counted the number of tickets he has. However, he is proud of the fact that his box is filled with them.
“When I first started collecting them, I just did it for the fun of it. Soon, I had my uncles and parents also contributing to the collection. Everytime they gave me a ticket, I would have to tell them a riddle or a joke in return and this continued for a long time,” he adds.
Joel’s collection includes both KSRTC and BMTC tickets of different denominations starting from rupee one to Rs 150.
Joel, who stays in Nelamangala,says that commuting by bus is a regular affair and though he does have a bus pass now, he misses having the ticket in hand.
“This is another reason why I want to keep these tickets. Most people, especially youngsters, either carry a bus pass or throw away the tickets. Who knows what the future holds? One day, some electronic gadget may replace these tickets and we may not have bus tickets at all,” he adds.
Joel says that apart from the colour, there is nothing much that differentiates these tickets.
“Design wise, all the tickets are similar. Most of the KSRTC tickets have different advertisements printed at the back. But when it comes to BMTC ones, you get them in pink, blue, purple and red. Some denominations like Rs 60, Rs 70, Rs 100 and Rs 150 in KSRTC tickets are very rare now as the bus rates have also increased,” says Joel, who regularly travels to nearby towns in the State.
What’s really unique about the hobby is that Joel doesn’t spend all his time collecting it. “Whenever I get a ticket, I put it in my box,” he adds. But now Joel wants to start storing it in a different way and make it more organised.
“Since I am in my PUC, studies take up most of my time. But soon, I want to separate the tickets, stick them in a book and store them in a better way,” he adds.
Though Joel doesn’t remember most of his trips as he was small, he does remember his trips to Mangalore, Mysore and Mandya along with his family and friends. “These tickets are also a reminder of the good times that I have had. Travelling by bus is fun. Being together and stopping to eat are some of things that one cannot forget,” he adds.
After the recent accidents involving the Volvo buses, Joel is a little apprehensive about travelling by Volvos. “Those accidents were really scary and sad. But that doesn’t mean we stop travelling by buses altogether,” he adds.
While Joel doesn’t know where his hobby is headed, he does know that he will treasure his collection forever.
“The value of a ticket is only till the journey lasts. After the journey, it has no value. Most people may find it useless to collect bus tickets but for me, these tickets mean
much more than its value,” he sums up.