Friday 11 May 2012








I am sure you must have read, heard and talked about it a lot that this world is caught  in a race, everyone is in a hurry to reach somewhere even if some are not aware why they have to reach there, I hope you get what I mean. But what I am going to write in this article is not the conventional boring stuff about the above but a very unusual example that makes me laugh every single time I witness it and I am sure it will make you laugh too.


DELHI METRO is a place where I feel one can’t get bored. You find such characters that knowingly or unknowingly try their best that other people’s journey doesn’t become monotonous. But without deviating away from the topic too much I don’t understand one thing and would like to ask is that, why is everyone in a hurry to get into the metro coach and more interestingly even in a greater hurry to get off the same coach to get into which you almost sort of fought a 1 against 10 handicapped wrestling match. Okay I can understand that for those people who are travelling for the first time in the metro, the whole thing is a new concept to them and there is an anxiety regarding taking the right route and getting off at the correct station. But what about others…huh?  This isn’t your first time….!!!


If you have noticed there is this digital timer at every station that informs everyone when the next train due is. As soon as it shows 1 minute left you can see everyone getting ready for the next world war, there is this sense of tension in the air and a look of a killer in everyone’s eye. The moment the gates open the battle is flagged off. They are in such a hurry that they want to get into the train even before those who want to get off without realizing that when others get  off only then will there be space for you stupid…!!!  People want to  get in first so that they can grab a seat, but I don’t know why. Firstly if you don’t get the seat , standing for 40 minutes is not going to wear down your legs( I am sure they can take this much strain at least) and secondly why do you try so hard for a thing that is ultimately going to be taken away from you. It’s just a matter of time before an old man/woman or a lady is going to take it away from you and mind you these people do not ask for it politely every time.


One more thing DELHI METRO is a classic example of a situation where the supply is stopped to create artificial demand. Everyone is so concerned about getting off the metro before other as if there is a race going on that all of them want to stand near the doors and if one observes from outside the middle section of every coach is half empty. Thus unnecessarily a problem of space shortage has been created.  I tell you one incident, there is a college friend of mine who was coming from Faridabad to Delhi by metro. It was his first time and so understandably he was standing near the door so as to get off at the right station, the anxiety I talked about. But you wouldn’t believe that the wave of crowd was such that he was pulled every single time out before his actual station and had to struggle his way back into the train. Poor lad swore not to ride in a metro again, haha.


Why don’t people realize that first of all they are not going to miss their station and even if they do by chance I just want to remind them that our engineers have made a route way back also. So why don’t you all let your worries go and stop making your metro ride unnecessarily a tiring activity. It won’t matter if you sometimes loose a minute or so, stop racing against time and yourself. It’s not the destination but the journey that matters and try to make yours a delightful one.




8 comments:

  1. Loved your way of writing! wow is it that much rush in Delhi? i did not imagine it can be so very packed!

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  2. thnx a lot Tejas for your appreciation. and believe me it does become one hell of a ride sometimes...haha

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  3. Hi First time here. A good post, surely food for thought. Though i do not follow much of Hindi, I find your posts in English interesting.

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  4. Thanks a lot L Krupaa for your appreciation. I wish you could understand hindi as well ...haha but still thanx

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  5. haha.... very true! guess it all has to do with the 'mass paranoia' that many Indians go through every time they enter any crowded place where they see a queue!

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  6. "Firstly if you don't get the seat , standing for 40 minutes is not going to wear down your legs( I am sure they can take this much strain at least) and secondly why do you try so
    hard for a thing that is ultimately going to be taken away from you."

    -Standing for 40 minutes is not going to wear down my legs but why should I be uncomfortable for 40 minutes if I have a chance to sit comfortably.
    Nothing is permanent,everything is going to be taken away sooner or later that doesn't means we don't try.


    "I tell you one incident, there is a college friend of mine who was coming from Faridabad to Delhi by metro. It was his first time and so understandably he was standing near the door so as to get off at the right station, the anxiety I talked about. But you wouldn't believe that the wave of
    crowd was such that he was pulled every single time out before his actual station and had to struggle his way back into the train. Poor lad swore not to ride in a metro again, haha."

    -You are in India, the second biggest population. What do you expect? A flock of hostesses giving you a hand to walk out?


    "It won't matter if you sometimes loose a minute or so, stop racing against time and yourself. It's not the destination
    but the journey that matters and try to make yours a delightful one"

    -The author who said this thing about destination and journey meant for life. If you have to make same journeys to get to same destination everyday for 10 years I doubt it would be a delightful one. It wouldn't matter.

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    Replies
    1. Yes if there is an empty seat and no one needs it more than you do then you definitely can occupy it and be comfortable but then just to take the seat first you break the order with your excited electrons like random movement i don't think that is the correct way.What i said about the seat being taken away was for those who go and occupy it first and there is a pregnant lady or an old man or woman still standing.

      Secondly its true India is the second most populated country but if you think the metro trains are crowded in every country because in India although it still might be the new thing on the block but in developed countries it is their primary mode of public transport but that doesn't mean you create havoc. If people in other countries can manage it i am sure we Indians definitely can its all about the attitude. Believe me no one is expecting for a hand to walk us out but then what is going on is also not acceptable.

      Thirdly i know the same journeys to get the same destination everyday for 10 years cannot be delightful but that was also one of my points if you go through my article again. If the person has been travelling in the metro for 10 yeas why is he still anxious and so hyper to get in first and the first one to be out.Shouldn't he be used to it by now?? If he as well as the person travelling for the first time show the same level of anxiety then i think that is definitely something not right in my point of view.

      Anyways thank you Makyl for your comments...!!!

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    2. For the first paragraph.

      You talk about attitudes and needy people. Giving a seat to a women is a kind gesture not a compulsion or an obligation. In a country where people despise reservation for backward classes why should a women(not pregnant) be treated specially? We all have to make our presence felt and if you can't stand up for yourselves you can never stand up for anything.

      Second paragraph.

      No one creates havoc. Everybody is in a hurry(you ask why,because they are in a hurry :-/).No metro is as populated as in delhi. Its the capital. People think it will change their lives,thus more population. You cant blame people for it.Blame the system for having so less metro trains.

      Third paragraph.

      He is used to it but if a person can spend more time at home by bursting into the metro he will do so. That's human. Every one has a right to live by their standard. FIFO is because of hurry. Everyone wants to be first. People are never second by choice.

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