Random Conversation #2

Women empowerment can be seen in the Delhi metro these days. Female commuters act very confidently and do not shy away from confronting males who dare to belittle them in any manner. Few instances that I noticed while commuting make me wonder why men still insist on believing in what they believe.

Conversation #1
Young girl notices an old man struggling to board the elevator at the station. She moves forward and firmly holds the old man's hand and urges him forward.

Young girl: "Tau hold the rail lightly and put your feet between the yellow lines"
Surprised by the action old man shook his hand vigorously.
Old man: "Who are you and why are you holding my hand? Girl, don't you have some sense. Stay back. Don't dare to hold my hand again. Where are your parents?"
Young girl: "I am old enough to travel alone. My parents don't have to accompany me".
Old man: "They have spoiled you. That's why you are holding a man's hand".
Young girl: "I hardly think that way. I would have done the same thing with my Grandfather. Now please keep mum and hold my hand. You have already caused a lot of chaos".
Old man: "I will never allow you to hold my hand. I will stand here and wait for a guy to help me board".
Young girl: "No guy will come to help you hold my hand or I will ask a lady staff to make you forcefully do that".

Old man looked around for some help. He saw a boy and asked him to help. The boy agreed to help him.  He made the old man board the elevator, the girl followed the duo. Old man faltered while the elevator moved, the girl took hold of the hand and helped him steady. Old man thanked the boy for helping him and didn't say anything to the girl. Girl just smiled at him and showed him the way to his platform before leaving.

Conversation#2
Crowded metros are an excuse for young men to board the women coaches. Most of the times they are shameless enough to argue back if you ask them to move out. But more than often they find their match in women passengers who would not give up till they leave.

One man was standing in the women coach and leaning dangerously close to a young college girl. The girl tried to move away but there was no space. She put her index finger on his shoulder and pushes him hard.
Young girl: "Do you mind standing straight".
Passenger: "I am standing straight. Why don't you move away".
Young girl: "This compartment is only for women why don't you move ahead".
Passenger: "Can't you see metro is very crowded, there is no space to move. Anyway I don't have to travel far. Will get down after few stations".
Young girl: "Crowded metro is no reason for boarding women coach. Please move or I will ask the guard s to make get down".
Man: "Do what ever you feel like".

The girl patiently waited and called for the guard at the next station. One of the female staff showed up and asked the man to move away. But before anyone could react metro doors closed and the train moved.  The man made some snide remarks on how useless the whole exercise was. Girl was not perturbed  by these remarks. When the metro stopped at the next station, after the people boarded the coach, she simply put her bag between the closing door.
She told the metro security official you need to make this man get down at this very station or I will not let the metro move ahead. Few women in the coach also agreed with her and asked for the same.

The man had no option but to change the coach. He was grumbling. Rest of us were smiling.

That was cool....Grand ma

Holi is one of my favorite festivals. I acknowledged Holi as a national festival well beyond my college years. It was only after I applied for a job in Bangalore that I realized there was no holiday on Holi. Since then, I have never applied for any job in Bangalore or for that matter even in Hyderabad. The celebrations are not the same even in this part of the country anymore, people are too busy to be bothered. I still remember when I was in school, Holi used to be so much fun. It was customary to drag reluctant participants and paint them red and green. Nobody was spared.

I expected to see some action while traveling in Delhi metro. It was the week of Holi after all. Delhi metro officials were very strict with rules for people carrying colors. There were random groups which had girls and boys looking red and blue queuing up for security checks. Security staff would look through bags and request them not to use colors at the platforms.It seem to work with all, as I didn't see a single spot of color. On and off people were wishing security personnel, "Happy Holi", which earned them a smile in return but no allowance to carry colors in the train.  There were random sighting of people colored with dry colors or some who painted red.

I saw an old lady flanked by her husband and grandchildren boarding the ladies "exclusive" coach. The boys were not too happy being pushed into the ladies coach. Another guy and a girl followed them in the same coach. Old lady looked around to sneer at the guy, but the looks of the person made her stop. Somebody offered her a seat near the rear end of the coach. She sat and continued to stare at the individual. His appearance was not adhering to the norms, he had his hair gelled and styled neatly with a mop of hair strategically placed on the forehead. He wore a very tight graphic T-shirt and a pair of rugged jeans. His footwear wear was yellow in color. His small finger was long, painted red and he wore jewelery. His gestures were a little feminine when he conversed with his lady friend. They seem to discussing the color of the hair, shoes et all. Grand ma looked visibly upset.

There were some other guys in the adjoining coach who were also staring at the individual. The guy seemed to be used to stares for he payed no attention. It was not long before the boys started taking jibes at him. Somebody said, "He is standing at the right place, just in the middle of two bogie's. I am sure its difficult for him to decide between the ladies and men's coach". The whole group laughed heartily. Similar comments followed about his appearance, gestures, voice and every thing else. Grandma was sitting quietly seemingly unaware of her surrounding. All of a sudden she got up, held the guy by his arm and made him turn to face the group of rowdies. She spoke in a low voice to one of the boys, " What is your problem? If I see you pestering this guy here again, trust me to call the police at the next station. This boy  is not asking for any acceptance from you. Least you can do is to respect his individuality. How many of you would even dare to that. You should praise him for his courage which made him strong enough to brace his sexuality. One more word and I will make sure that you all are thrown out at the next station.".

People cheered for the lady and clapped. The boys got the message and got down when the metro stopped next. I heard her grandson exclaim, " That was cool....Dadi (Grandma)!!

Metro snag

Today was a bad morning to start with, woke up late and made to have bad food for breakfast. Worst was when I reached the metro station, I was early but still had to board a crowded metro. For a fleeting moment I was tempted to step out and wait for next metro, but decided against it. This decision made me thank my luck when I reached my destination more than 30 minutes late. It could have been worse. Nothing seemed abnormal when the metro started from the station but from the next station onwards it just refused to move. It so happened that the signals were not working properly on this particular route leading to metro snarls. So each station ride was almost 10 minutes long with the bombardier playing the message "There will be a delay in this metro ride. Inconvenience is regretted"' some 50 times. Someone needs to tell them it just not helpful to hear these messages repeated zillion times through a 60 minute journey.

I was not the only one feeling restless over this delay. Everyone was concerned about the delay, be it an office goer with stringent office timing or college student with plans to bunk college. Delays seldom happen in Delhi Metros, it reportedly has a 99% up time. But not everyone was complaining, there were people who jumped into the already crowded coaches just because they felt lucky to catch a stationed metro. It was very annoying to see people jamming in limited space.

Anyhow there is no metro ride which lacks an interesting event, I looked around and found almost everyone fretting over cell phones. Some were calling there offices and saying, "Vermaji please sign for me in the attendance register, I will be late. Metro has some problem, it has been standing here for past 20 minutes. No I don't know what is wrong. Please tune in to the FM channel to get some information". Well, I might disagree with 20 minutes station time, but had to agree FM is a good way to keep yourself informed.  There were some students who were worried about their classes, some of them were heard calling classmates. One boy was visibly upset, he complained to his friend, "What the hell man, I woke up early so that I could attend the class with Anjali, now I will be reaching college after she leaves. Life is very unfair. Anyway you attend the class and ensure my proxy attendance. I will try my luck next week again".  Well, if you ask me life is really unfair. Poor guy, God only knows how early he had to get up.

There was also a girl who was smiling at me, an odd thing in this scenario. But I soon realized she was whispering in the phone, well almost whispering. For some reasons people speak very loudly in metro, though there are people who whisper in such a manner you wonder if they are able to hear it themselves. Her voice was alternating between a whisper and loud conversations. She told the guy on the other end, "Metro is taking so long. We had planned it perfectly, nobody would have guessed we had all this planned. I started early just to be able to meet you there. Why do you have worry I keep meeting a lot of office people at the station. Just tell them your bus has changed the route. Why did you get into a relationship with me if you are not strong enough to face all this. Don't be a coward. I think I am braver one in this relationship". She almost threw the phone after disconnecting the call.

It's been more than 30 minutes and we were not even half way to Rajiv Chowk. Poor girl called her guy again, "I have a good news for you, I will take some more time to reach there. You can go ahead as I will be late to office. I hope you are happy now. Don't dare to talk to me again". That was one casualty of relationship which can be attributed to metro snag.

I reached office almost an hour and half late, my decision not to wait for another metro saved me some 45 minute delay. While going back I was told the time lag between two metros was almost 25 minutes for major part of the morning.

Well it wasn't a great start for the day, however, it was interesting enough!!!