My apologies to you my reader for the delay in posting the sequel to Namuney! What do i tell you about the trials and tribulations that i have been facing? Certainly, you'd agree that time is the only commodity available to us everyday but still we run short on it!
Well enough said, let's get to the crux!
If you recollect a long time we spoke about the abysmal number of crowds that use the local trains of Bombay. Believe it or not, 6.9 million people like you use the local trains every single day! Of course this is the case excepting those days when the city enjoy's a respite from the grind!
What is the crowd? Is it a humongous body with a head, tail and everything else in between, something like a giant dragon?
If you agree with the above, you're one of those people who actually enjoy life in Bombay. Travelling by train for you is beneath your dignity, and you've never stepped out of home without your air conditioned car! But then, if you're one of those people who travel from far and work hard for your daily bread, you'd know better!Anyways, let me describe it for the benefit of the those who know it not!
The crowd is nothing but a living mass of people. Individuals with their dreams, aspirations, lives and fears who don't have an option other than use the crowded train to travel to their karmabhoomis. Putting it simply, travelling to their place of work!Each one of these people is as different in nature from each other as their fingerprints. "Birds of the same feather, flock together" is a saying which does not find purchase in the local train. People don't travel together under miserable
commuting conditions because they like to do so, they do so because they don't have a choice. Let's talk about a few of the characters you're likely to meet on any given journey in a regular local train.
I. The Skirmisher
Remember we spoke about the skirmishers, the people who attack the local the first! These are the people who ensure their pals get a decent seat in the train. The skirmisher is the one who receives the greatest amount of flak amongst all of the people who barge in! Entering the train first, entering the train at a speed to ensure they're a splitsecond before the other skirmishers in order to get a seat; and once that they grab a seat, they don't leave it at that. They also ensure they block a sufficient amount of space to ensure their pals also get a place to sit. If you ask me, this is the most difficult part of the entire battle. Oh you have no idea of the extent people would go to just to get a seat.
"Get a move on motherfucker, this seat is blocked"
"Oh yeah, says who sisterfucker...?"
More often than not, such a colourful exchange of dialogues often end up with fist fights. Blows keep getting exchanged, but the skirmisher holds ground. The skirmisher's nightmare comes to an end when his team members come to his rescue, and occupy the seats they fought to maintain.
After the first furious five minutes, everything calms down and people exchange pleasantries and gossip yet again and memories of the battle are relegated to the archives, forgotten and erased from memory.
II. The Grumbler
So far we've seen the more generous and altruistic side of humanity, now for the more uglier side of it.
"Hey, mind your foot, will you? This train's not your father's property!" You'll hear this comment coming from the standees section, or the standees occupying the foot space between two rows of seated passengers. This irate flurry of words comes from a passenger who's obviously not at ease with his present situation in the train.
As you would've guessed before never mind if you did not, travelling in the train requires a certain level of tolerance to intrusion into personal space. You cannot expect to travel like a king in the cattle class. You want class, get out of the train. This place is for the spartans and the great unwashed!
But no matter how many times this point has been expressed in words or other means, there would always be someone who's going to disagree with this!
Enter the Grumbler!
The Grumbler is the specimen of humanity who doesn't enjoy his/her present predicament but does not have the courage to fight/change it! The best that the Grumbler can do is make a hue and cry and create a ruckus, but when it comes to fighting, they back off at the first sign of it.
Good, now the argument ceases right? No, the grumbler is not one of those who'll give up that easy. He'll stop grumbling and start mumbling! Mumbling away in a corner of the train where only his nearest neighbours can hear his tale of woe and displeasure. He ensures his words don't reach the aggressor who won't mind translating words into blows for better understanding!
III. The Fighter
The Fighter is by far the bravest, but also the rarest kind of commuter you'd ever find in a train. There would be grumblings and angry words aplenty, but few ever culminate into fights! Awww, you're spoiling the fun. No fun without a fist fight!
Oh yes, i completely agree with you my violence loving reader, there's nothing possibly more entertaining than a fight after a tiring day to spruce up the entertainment. Of course, the fighting's all good fun as long as i'm just a spectator, right? Most of the crowd agrees to this undoubtedly, but there are a few warlike travellers in our midst who'd like nothing more than a tight fist on their faces or feel words are inadequate to express their feelings!
This strata of commuter society is most easily identified by their attire and attitude. They come in with a swagger and more often than not, their clothes are either garish or dishevelled. They hang out close to the doors where they can enjoy a fresh blast of the polluted, humid Bombay air and get a free hairdo minus the gel and effort!
Grumbling with this fellow is like asking for an invitation to Hell! They're a stark contrast from the Grumbler who's a fat, balding fellow wearing formal clothes and thinks chappals or sports shoes are perfectly fine with a trouser!
These guys definitely mean business. Better not piss them off lest you'd enjoy the prospect of a broken tooth or a bleeding
nose!
All said and done, this is what our crowd is all about. Deep down, they're just good human beings who're just trying to
make peace with life in general!
Cheers to the crowd! Zeig Heil!
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