Reading to learn

courtesy Dr. Vinay Kumar

Reading while travelling seems to be catching up in Delhi more than ever. With metro becoming a preferred mode of travel, more people are opting to read while travelling. It is common to see majority of people during the morning rides reading newspapers or kids doing their last minute revisions or fiction stories. No matter how much I would like to believe otherwise, most commonly read books will still be "Revolution 2020" and "50 Shades of Grey". I prefer seeing people with Paulo Coelho, who seems to be the next popular author with his plenty of books. I read some where he writes one book every 2 years.

I envy people who can read in Metros. I have tried a lot of times to get past my motion sickness but in vain. I mostly end up getting stares from readers for being invasive. After all it was and still is the favorite activity for us. Majority of us don't bother getting our copy, instead would lean over to get a better view of  fellow commuter's newspaper. The article some how seems more interesting when some one else is reading it. I also happen to be an avid member of this club. Trust me to know the major stories of the day, especially on Page 3, by end of my journey. My attention is inevitably drawn to books, but I am better off than a lot many people. I must caution you against those over enthusiasts who have read all books ever written and would not shy away from telling you this. They would also share their thoughts on favorite characters. You might encourage them if you smile. To save yourself the smile should be accompanied by the look which says, "That was very helpful. Thank you".

The latest fad these days are the self-help books. Lately I have seen an increase in number of people carrying authors such as Stuart Wilde and Paulo Coelho. In the month of April, Times of India had done a small write up "5 Great self-help books", which had me smiling. I firmly believe unlike US or Europe, India doesn't have a market for such books. The system around us is built to help us from the very beginning. From the day you are born till the day you die, advises come plenty and free. From how you should you walk to which career you should opt for, you have advisors for all. When we have such a blessed life, can we ask for more advise. I did seem to find my answer when I asked fellow commuter who was reading "The Alchemist". I asked him, "Do you like reading books which inspires its readers?". He looked lost. To make things simpler for him I asked, "Did you find this book interesting?". "Well yes", he said. I wanted to know more, so I asked again, "I liked the way he wrote but did not understand the inspirational message. People say this book carries a message, 'When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it', do you agree". I could see he did not get the message. He said,"I am not sure about the message in the book. One of my girlfriend is fond of reading and she loaned me this book. I am just reading it because she asked me to".

Well I got my answer, not everyone who reads a self-help would be looking for inspiration. Our little Indian world is still safe. Now I am looking for some one reading Stuart Wilde's "Miracles", to confirm my finding.

I know patterns

Photo courtesy Dr. Vinay Kumar

"A pattern, from the French patron, is a type of theme of recurring events or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set of objects. The elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner". I have always been able to find patterns in every activity. We are surrounded by periodical, rhythmic and repeating activities. It is not always visible and the pattern can be varied. If you take a closer look at the activities around, you will definitely find a pattern. Even while travelling in a metro, one can observe patterns in various activities. Some are very obvious like frequency of metros. While others are not very obvious at first glance, such as ratio of long distance metros to short distance metros on a particular route.

Not that I am always applauded for my ability to do, there have been times when I have been proved wrong. I won't suggest that there are many instances, yet I can't claim I am always correct. Recently I have started traveling with my colleagues in the metro. We share a common half-way destination, which makes it convenient to travel together. I have inundated them with my research on patterns with metro frequency and commuter behavior. Majority of times my findings have helped them save precious time. At times they have been able to manage to avoid maddening rush hour crowds. 

But today was different, I was on a high after finishing my work early. Avoiding rush hour traffic is a very important aspect of my daily commuting. I feel elated by the mere prospect of reaching Rajiv Chowk station before 5:00pm. I guess, for me, it is an achievement of some sort. My colleague was also happy and chatty. I was teasing her for being slow in wrapping her stuff and causing a delay. We had just reached the platform when a train was moving out. Which meant if we were early by just a minute, we would have boarded it. Nobody likes this feeling. I have seen people falling and scrambling to board the train when it was just about to move. We thought better and decided to leave the train. However, the next train was scheduled after 5 minutes according to the electronic display board. This information was not very helpful. She would also not agreeing to walk a couple of meters to "ladies only" coach. I don't appreciate travelling in crowded general coaches. However, we decided to board the almost crowded coach of the next metro.

I was repeating my concerns over crowded coach and trying to convince her to move ahead. In our discussions I happen to boast my ability to understand the patterns. The whole concept was not very appealing to her. To gain some brownie points, I suggested, "You know we should get down at the next station. If we leave two metros, we will be able to board the one which starts from there. This will help us find seats and travel comfortably without being bothered by the crowd". She did not believe me. I had to put an ice-cream as a betting bait to make her follow my plans.

Though she got down at the station, she kept reminding me about losing time and ending up in the rush hour chaos. But I was too engrossed to prove "there-is-a-pattern-and-I-know-it" argument, to bother about rush hour crowd.

Her count down started after one metro, she said we are "one-metro-down". She added, "Now according to your research, we need to leave the next metro too". Which we indeed did. But we were supposed to take the next metro as per my research. My research stated the pattern as three long distance metro and then one short distance metro. This did not happen, we were standing there for next fifteen minutes, with a count of "five-metro-down". Every metro seemed to be over crowded compared to the one we had boarded initially. This was not good for my self-esteem. She was laughing at me. She kept reminding me about the ice-cream I owed her. She was loud enough to make other commuters interested in our conversation. I had started noticing a couple of them trying to contain their smiles.

I was still wondering how can I go wrong. Tried hard to do the algorithm again, the fourth metro should have been the designated short distance metro. There were two metros which were terminated at the state. So technically, we should have at least one starting from here by now. Finally after leaving six metros, came the one which we were waiting for. My colleague was not impressed by this mis-endeavor.

Nevertheless it was her chance to mock at me all the way to Rajiv Chowk station. I was feeling depressed, it seemed all my co-passengers were conspicuously smiling at me. She said, "Tomorrow lunch session will be dedicated to your research on patterns". I knew better, not only tomorrow's lunch, for next one month at the very mention of word metro, this incident will be narrated by my colleague.

Next morning when I reached Rajiv Chowk station, I waited for ten minutes to confirm the pattern. Yes, indeed after two long distance metros, there was one for shorter distance. My calculations were accurate as I waited and let go of next six metros. Suddenly realized, need to be on time for a call!!!

Outage equals chaos here

"The power grid failure has given us international fame" a student declared, reading an article from Washington Post . "No wonder team Anna suggests that it is an deliberate attempt by the Government to sabotage their agitation", he added. Well, he was not wrong, almost all the major International newspapers carried articles terming it the worst power outage on July 30th. Unaware that India is capable of more and bigger power outage just a day after that on August 1. After which they realized "it only happens in India" and took the opportunity to dedicate lot many 20 inch column space everyday rest of the week. The latest one being on "Lack of power symbolizes inequalities" . One of his friend asked,"How was the day different than any other day in NCR? On any given day there is scheduled load shedding which leaves us without power for a good 5-6 hours". That is also true. I am also aware that its not that every summer Washington Post or New York Times writes about the severe shortage of power in NCR. Though in last few years there have been few articles suggesting India needs to improve its generation capacity or have smart grid systems. It was the balant exposure of system break down which attracted them. Our inability to sustain our basic transportation facility system were condemned by the International press. The capital region almost came to a stand still.

I was also surprised by the interest now people had in "Grid failure" discussions. I remember HT Mini (national daily special print for metro commuters) doing an article explaining supply grids and how grid fails. The article had a "FAQ" like column explaining in detail. A very helpful article which was not very enlightening for my fellow commuters. I saw several co-passengers reading the article. Still the discussion comments were very interesting. Grid system according to one passenger is a network of towers which carries electricity and can easily get effected by rain and storm since the material quality is very poor in India. A new engineering graduate rubbished his claims, according to him, "It is not poor quality of material. We overdraw power and do not generate enough". Not everyone was convinced by this logical explanation. They still wanted to believe, it was somehow the fault of Mr. Shinde and his team. They should have taken special measures to avoid this. "Probably called engineers from Japan to suggest alternative power source such as solar cells", suggested someone. When asked about the known capacity of a single solar cell, he was clueless. Not finding much appreciation, he came up with another bright suggestion, "Nuclear power is also a viable alternative. We don't have Tsunami here". His friend smiled and reminded him, "But we do have earthquakes here. They also pose high risk". The source of energy can be different but what they fail to understand was the need to conserve energy. I never heard anyone talk about how to contribute to avoid such situation in future. There perception and conceptions were very interesting. A group of elderly women felt they were much happier in days without refrigerators, washing machine and micro-waves. Life was simpler. While there was another group where the participants felt it was a good time for Rahul Gandhi to be our Energy Minister (?). After all he has studied abroad, he should be able to implement newer technologies in India.

I smiled and enjoyed a whole lot of similar conversations. The best statement was from one who seemed to be a beliver in "Mayan Calender", he said, "This is why we believe in end of world, it is a way of God for telling us we should not be too dependent on material things".

Well, even if the world is coming to an end, it wont't harm us if we contributed more towards energy conservation. Will it?

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!!