I am one of them now !

Our family commute during my childhood days was aboard Bajaj Chetak, huddled close together in a family hug behind ‘PA’. Simple and warm just the way it used to be in those days.

Years later when I returned to Delhi for work, life threw many options at me: different and new modes of travel – Office bus, car pool with seniors and colleagues, DTC bus and Delhi Metro (still under construction). The preference to the latter was deferred due to obvious reasons. I had to use the office bus since it was economical and convenient but demanded a lot of time. I tried utilising the time, catching up with sleep or reading. But the travel time only kept increasing with the passing years. Therefore I bought my own car. It did save a lot of time, but I was cut off from the realities and the patterns developing in our city; alienated behind those closed protected doors and glasses.

I took a conscious decision of moving away from the city, I cut my wings. But as life would have it, yet again, life has brought me back and I travel in the much coveted Delhi Metro now. Even though its services are fast and prompt, it simple cannot accommodate Delhi’s exploding population. And now having used it for around three weeks, I have become one of them, one of those travelers these days, who hold their smartphones in their hands and choose to be deaf to the moving traffic and commuters. It was so much different in Mumbai, where people liked talking to strangers on the go, where traveling was fun and an active part of life. Ever heard of “Train friend” as a concept, it’s alienating in Delhi. All girls and boys, men and women have blocked their ears with the headphones, bluetooth and wired for the entire travel time. It gets uncomfortable to even ask, “Aap kahan uttrengi?”, “Zara side dena, please?. Uff…You tap their shoulders; they unblock their ears (if they can) and ask “hmm?”….I wish I could just collect all those earphones and throw them far away to planet Pluto….But since I can’t….what do I do to relieve the angst from my daily commute is to listen to music. Even though I see the flip side of this behaviour, I have to admit “I have become one of them now”.

Such is life!

Places we visit and things we do in our everyday routine/lifestyle, itself is a palette of surprises, joyousness, realizations and bewilderment.

I quote one such episode here:

“Just like any other Saturday morning, I had been busy, running home errands to pay our monthly electricity bill, refill groceries stock at home and visit an uncle at hospital. I wanted to remain focused on the tasks at hand, a feeling that dawns every typical Saturday morning, when one feels “my time”/”weekend” has begun.

I decided to hurriedly drop off the electricity bill at the BSES office. I rushed to the counter, happy that I was on time five minutes past nine, to make a quick payment and move ahead, But to my dismay, I realized the counter was shut.

I sat on the main gate, looking over my shoulder at every passerby, hoping that they were the concerned official.

An old lady walks by, picks up the broom and starts cleaning the compound alley. And I begin to wonder when the government services would become prompt and reliable.

A tall heavily built man enters the premises, walks towards the counter and stamps his feet over the ground. Okay, so he is Neha no.2. in some kind of rush with life.

The third person through the gate was a man on his crutches. I looked ahead as he slowly limped his way past me. Assuming him to be Neha no.3, I wondered if I should re plan the day ahead and visit this office at noon. My wait had lasted longer than thirty minutes already.

Hearing some distant screeching sound, I looked back and jumped to see the window open. How did I miss the ghost pass by me? I smiled and ran to the counter. I was stunned to see what I saw ahead of me. Neha no. 3 says “Madam, Aapka cheque kahan hai?”

We make so many assumptions about people over the first glance, which biases the possibilities the person brings along with them.

Looks can be deceiving."