Harmless action?, I beg to differ

I read a quote somewhere by William James, "Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.", it is quite an inspiring quote. However, I am not sure how many of my co-passengers know about William James or heard this quote. Their action or in-action suggests many of them live surrounded in their own ignorant world. After travelling is metros almost every day for past six months, I have not been able to understand the reason behind some actions.

These actions are harmless but then they do make a difference. I fail to understand why one would;
Feign sleep to avoid offering his/her seat to more deserving co-passenger.
Not hold on to the rails while standing. How can tripping or falling over people considered cool?
Walk up and stand right in front of the queue when he/she should be the last one.
Push people to make way in to already crowded metro.
Trying to enter the carriage when doors are closing.
Peeping to see if metro is approaching. Will it make a difference except for the life altering accident?

Not all the actions are harmless. One may believe wearing sunglasses while travelling in metro is harmless.   I had have different experience. I was curious enough to ask a co-passenger with black sunglasses if he suffered from conjunctivitis. I had to be careful, it was rainy day with no sun. My co-passenger was not happy with my question, he stared at me in disbelief. His curt voice and stare will stay with me for a long time. It was not the only incident. Lately, the sightings have gone up to at least three people in day.Though I have learnt to suppress my smile and ignore the urge.

Some actions take considerable amount of planning before they are executed. Once I noticed a family of four in deep conversation, trying to convince the youngest on something. All the family members could be termed as medically obese. They seemed very tensed. When the station approached they were the first one to reach at the doors. My destination was the same station. I saw all four of them running towards the elevator. I knew what was coming next, they would use the elevator and leave the elderly passengers stranded. To my amusement I saw people in the lift asking one of them to step out. It seems the elevator was unable to take the weight of all four members with other passengers. The elevator doors were unable to close. I saw all four of them grumpily walking towards the escalators. I heard the father telling his younger one,"I told you to run (?) fast and be the first one to reach there. You need to loose some weight to be able to run faster. Your pace is slower than a snail."

Another harmless action which reminds me "If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done", quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Not a perfect match

Its not difficult to overhear conversations, crowded carriages make it a part of your travel. Sometimes you are left with no option but to listen to what is being discussed. I don't mind being a silent participant in conversations. In fact, if luck favors, I get to choose from as much as five live conversations which can range from love chat to family dispute. Not everyone is loud on phone, but almost everyone is audible. Not everyone is shy of having a conversation in public, but almost everyone is self-conscious. Especially the young girls who are been coaxed by their parents to meet prospective grooms. This is one conversation which is repeated so very often. If  I were to average, it would be like one such conversation per week.

Most of the times the conversation would start pleasantly and then end abruptly. All the conversations would have five common conversation pieces.

"Now where did you find this guy?"
"I think its too early to get married"
"Let me get settled with my job"
"Why should I call (meet) him"
"Why are you in such a hurry to get me married?"

But this conversation was different. I was standing in front of this girl sitting on "Only for old and physically handicapped" seat. On another day I would have asked her to get up and make space for somebody who deserved to sit there. Not today, I was too tired from my day's travel and didn't want to argue with anyone. Also, there was no "deserving" passenger in sight. Must be her lucky day. I was trying to make sense out of the absurd advertisement on the platform, when I heard the usual, "Where did you get his information from?". I knew where the conversation was heading. To my surprise I was proved wrong.

She continued,"Isn't he the same guy Mamaji(uncle) was asking me to meet?"
"Well, I remember him."
"Isn't he also from Aligarh?"
"He has also studied from Aligarh University. I remember, our classmates would call him Gulli(?)"
"He was such a dud, I didn't even speak to him in college."
"We also worked together for sometime, ask Mamiji(aunt), I had told her about him."
"Yes, the same irritating fellow, who used to talk too much."
"He was trying to be too friendly with me. I ignored his advances."
"How come he was recommended for marriage?"
"Don't worry, I will talk to Mamaji(uncle) and get you out of this mess."
"I know his parents had approached dad last month, proposing marriage."
"Are you crazy, I would never get married to a weird person like him. I would also not allow you to get married to him."

The conversation ended there. I had to get down at the next station. I am not sure what happened to the girl. Yes, I do know for sure that the poor chap is not getting married anytime soon!!

Not really sleeping...

It's so easy to doze off while travelling. I am forever missing stops while travelling because of my habit of sleeping off. I have a gift of falling asleep anywhere, any time. When I travel in metro, I realize I am not the only one who has been blessed. There are dozens of other people who happily sleep in metro, dozing off, snoring away and falling over their co-passengers. Sometimes people even miss their intended stops all because of that extra two minute nap. One would think waking co-passengers and asking them about their destination would be a good idea. Compulsive good will messenger that I am, more than once I have been in "not-so-pleasant" situations for helping people.

Once I was travelling in the metro bound to Gurgaon, where my co-passenger was sleeping blissfully. I could hear her heavy breathing. Metro was at approaching its destination with next station as the IFFCO chowk. My experience tells me almost everyone gets down at this station, so I decide to check with my co-passenger for her destination. I tried waking her by saying, "Excuse me, do you want to get down at the next station?". Got no response from her. I nudged her gently this time to ensure she wakes up. I finally succeeded in getting a response when she said, "No I will get down at the last station". She continued, "I was not sleeping, was in deep meditation". I smiled in a failed attempt to conceal my surprise. But my smile probably prompted her to continue, "One should use whatever time they have for meditation. The art of meditating is in reaching the phase of oblivion even in most unlikely surroundings". I was sure she was sleeping, however decided to keep quite. She further added, "You are young, if you start meditating now you will be able to achieve this in few years". Well, if you ask me, I am too young for yogic meditation. My dad has tried to convince me for ages (for my bother won't even bother listening) and I have always refused. She went on to tell me what were the different ways to do meditation. The different stages of nirvana (yes, she said nirvana) of human soul which can be achieved through meditation. She  told me she taught yoga and meditation on weekends. She even offered a discount of one month fee if I agreed to join her classes "now". When the train reached the last station I thanked GOD. Before she was able to convert me into a devotee, I collected my belongings and rushed out of the carriage.

The other time I tried to help my sleeping co-passenger, it turned out to be my last such attempt. My co-passenger was sleeping blissfully with occasional snoring. The train was approaching Rajiv Chowk  which is the destination for most of the people. In my effort to be a helpful citizen, I called out, "Excuse me sir, do you want to get down at the next station". I had expected a blank look and probably a "thank you" in response. Instead he was taken by surprise in his sleep and woke up with jolt. His belongings fell on the floor. I had realized it was mistake to interfere in his sleep. He shot me a look of disgust before asking me, "Why did you do that. I was not sleeping. I know when I have to get down. I was carrying a laptop in this bag, what if it was damaged now?". I didn't know what to say. I managed to mumble a sorry and got up from my seat. I bumped into him again at Rajiv Chowk and was not pleased at the way he looked at me.

I have promised myself never to try and wake up up my co-passenger again. Though there are still very many people like me who can't stop themselves. Only yesterday, a girl was sleeping occasionally falling over her co-passenger (a testimony of deep sleep), when her co-passenger tapped her shoulder to inform her Rajiv Chowk was the next stop. She woke up with a blank look and whispered, "I was not sleeping. I know its Rajiv Chowk. Anyway thank you".

Well, if no one is really sleeping....why bother!!

The Underground

London underground is an experience in itself. The whole transport structure is woven beautifully, providing the most modern public transport system yet withholding the era of yesteryears. I was intrigued by the whole map system there. Trust me, it will take more than a while for someone to figure out the station and the line. The map seems to be a big mesh of colored lines intersecting each  other repeatedly at different points. The Delhi metro map looks like a piece of cake. Probably a tourist would find difficulty making sense out of "Badarpur" as a station.

I somehow managed to figure out where I was and which ride will be best suited. The underground stations give you a feel of being "underground". The platforms are crowded and dingy. The real shocker is to see the train, which by all standards is smaller than the Purple line of Delhi metro. There is space for not more than 30 people in the carriage. I felt claustrophobic by looking at the approaching train. More than once I asked myself if it was a wise decision to travel by the tube. The "tube" is an apt name, for you feel crowded and trapped. Not that Delhi metro gives you a space to breathe easy. Lately, it seems the number of commuters is directly proportional to rising temperatures with people preferring metro over other transport. Hike in petrol prices is another culprit.

The carriages are small and seating space is very limited, though the seats are very comfortable. Commuters are very patient in London, even though it was a Friday evening nobody seemed to be in a rush. Books and head-phones were with every commuter just like in Delhi metro. It was refreshing to see people carrying books, Kindle and iPad are yet to replace books here.

I enjoyed my brief stint with the tube, it lasted only for a day. However, it was very enjoyable and I loved watching people. Its amazing to know that they developed the system in 1863 and countries like India still have a long way to go!!