I was reading a book the other day and found an intriguing sentence which made me ponder about the present state of affairs. It said “Good questions are always better than trying to give the right answers”. To start with I am again at the same place where I first had the flash of thought to write this.
Scene :
Delhi Metro, travelling on the Yellow line from Rajiv Chowk(CP) to Huda City Centre in Gurgaon.
People say one should go to villages as it is the place where true India lives. I beg to differ a little here, with the burgeoning population of our beloved country and the aspirations of a flamboyant lifestyle, the expansion and the diminishing boundaries between the rural and the urban, it presents with the side of the story that has been staring one and all in their faces for quite some time now.
Confused!! Are you?? So before any more digressions let me come straight to the point, which at first place prompted me to write this. With due respect to all the intellectual readers here I am going to make an attempt to highlight the plight, pardon me I mean the real situation in actual light. People of NCR region are well versed with what awaits them when they start their day. One wishes or not but is forced to think about the traffic situation, the hustling crowd of office going people in the Metro, those queues at the bus stops. You name the mode of transport and if I am not wrong one part of your brain is thinking “ I wish no more lines of cars moving at snail’s pace on the well built flyovers”. “ Will I get a seat in the metro today ?”. Will the bus be a little less crowded today? And mind you the day has just started yet, not to name the work place responsibilities are already on one’s mind. Our government says to use the public transport to ease the traffic density of the roads and partly to contribute in the energy savings.
But be rest assured, we may have seen the turnaround of NCR with the coming of Delhi metro but the hassles do not seem to lessen a bit. The voice in the metro announces” Next Station Rajiv Chowk” and people are ready, one doesn’t need to actually make an effort to get in or out at a station. You see people are actually quite helpful and you will be thrown out or taken in. And yes “Caution : Please keep a check if you are not getting down at a changeover station, you need to make your way around the crowd before your destination arrives.”
Imagine the scene : You are a statue and can’t move your hands even if you just want to wipe those drops of sweat that have come on your forehead. Did somebody say that Delhi Metro is Air conditioned and this guy is a nutcracker, the situation inside metro coach doesn’t make me feel so. Forget about keeping a vigil from the pickpockets, you are either helpless like s statue or so busy moving along with the crowd that you hardly pay any attention to your pockets. This is not my far etched imagination but the reality, one of my friends has not once but twice lost his Ipod in the metro, the remains of which were just a pair of dangling earphones. Crazyy isn’t it!!!
With so many rules in place what is one supposed to do, in a six coach train one is reserved for ladies and no offences, but a substantial amount of fine is levied on one for committing the crime of travelling in the ladies coach, I totally agree on the safety point for women but just give a thought for the poor hapless creatures who are jostling for an inch of space in the adjoining coach, so I say the guards shouldn’t come swashing their rods for crossing the “ Lakshman Rekha” of one metro coach.
Rather than looking for solutions, fine implementation is what is necessary on the government’s part and to follow simple ethics is what is required from our end.
Everyday is like going to a mini battle and returning victorious in the evening. Kudos to the spirit of the “ Common man” who braves such an ordeal to make it successful.
Cheers!!!
P.S. I am well aware that one is not allowed to click photographs in the Delhi Metro but I couldn’t resist myself from clicking and posting it.
