Le Metro

It was a humid Thursday morning. I stood at the metro station staring at the back of the missed train. It was one of those self realisation moments, when you miss your train and the true meaning of minutes and seconds dawns upon you. If I had skipped the article on Ranveer-Deepika over breakfast, I would have probably made it. Now it was time for some morning gyan. I sat on the shining steel chair, and scrolled through the notifications and alerts on my mobile. I had reached a point of saturation where best buy suggestions from Amazon, reminders on Facebook, Gaana, WhatsApp were swiped off screen in one stroke. I was not going to fall for these. Yeh dil maange more!!

A blog was long overdue now, but my brain was preoccupied with other things. I stared at the winding tracks, when a gush of wind blew through my hair. A shining metallic object (not sure if its steel or aluminium) came to a sudden halt on the other track. I was awed at the beauty of its exterior. The colourful ads on the exterior added to its charm. I have always thought a train is a replica of a snake, until my daughter told me that it looks like a caterpillar. It did make sense though; but in my generation, four year olds didn't talk about caterpillars!!

Now I had something to explore for the next 6 minutes until the next metro arrives. I googled Chennai metro and learnt certain interesting facts about it. The metro made a meek entry and the automatic doors opened up. I had been thinking all this while that the metro coaches were imported. Sad that we still think that sophisticated stuff in our country are all imported, it was news to me that these coaches were indigenously made at Tada, a place few kilometres away from Chennai. Made in India, Hats off!!

I loved the interiors filled with colourful posters, kolams and mandalas, all spic and span from ceiling to floor. It was eerie quiet as the doors closed and in a short while the metro moved from elevated tracks to underground ones. I pulled out my book for a quick 15 minute read, as the metro always gave me a library feeling, except for the timely announcements which can be annoying if not ignored. My system was now tuned to ignore it.

Once inside, the observer in me was looking for similarities and differences between the suburban train and le metro. The metro and the suburban train were in striking contrast on various aspects. The metro was all about comfort, ease and high speed technology, while local trains could be crowded, noisy and hot. I've always wondered why people paid ten times more to travel First class in the suburban train when there was no difference in terms of facilities, not even an AC.

Nevertheless, I somehow missed the zeal and zest I found in the local train in the metro. While the metro depicts the urbane Chennai, the local train is a page out of old Madras. It was interesting to note that the people who travelled by metro were as sophisticated as its carrier. They rarely made eye contact, leave alone talking to each other. It all seemed to be out of the world and mechanical. In contrast, the local train buzzes with activity, its more human, with entrepreneurial skills of petite vendors on display. I am awed at the selling skills of ladies selling handkerchiefs, cucumbers and flowers. They add a personal touch, with most of the commuters being regulars. I've heard tales about regular office-goers, mostly government officials who form groups and recite songs and bhajans.

The underlying message is that Chennai has a decent means of public transportation, and choosing to use it is just a matter of personal choice. I hold a train and metro pass, prefer it over Uber and Ola lately and as a consequence I get more reading and writing time.

One Sunday, my daughter and me set out on a venture. It was Public transport day, as she had been complaining of not boarding a bus in her whole lifetime (by the way she is 4 yrs old), and I couldn't ignore her little fancies. The plan was charted out, and the first leg of our journey was in a bus from Porur to Guindy, followed by train and share auto. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, and I had a whole new perspective looking at things from her eyes. She loved the bus because it took her to greater heights and the share auto because it had seats facing each other. It made my day when she told me it was a good ride, and at a price much cheaper than Fun city!