THE “METRO RACE” (14/03/2016)

While commuting back from office, I find the impatience of commuters quite amusing. They simply jump out of the compartment once the doors of the metro compartment opens at any station and run towards the staircase and all the way to the auto stand below, desperately trying to be the first to punch their metro card at the exit. I fail to comprehend the reason for such desperation and hurry. This “Metro Race”, aimed at being the first one to punch card at the exit, includes people of all age and gender- old people who otherwise are unable to even stand straight or walk firmly, aged ladies who otherwise are quite slow in their response in office they work, frustrated babus who will clear his glasses thrice before responding to any person approaching him in office- All of a sudden these imbecile people get energized and leap ahead of others in their race to be the first one to punch their card at exit. Even during the travel, once the name of the approaching metro station is announced, this group would start gathering at the door. It soon swells into a crowd, which waits impatiently and desperately for the doors to open. Once it opens, they rush with such haste that may put even an athlete to shame. It hardly matters if the “Grameen sewa” (Chhakda auto-rickshaws) operators down below gives a hoot to their impatience and do not move an inch forward without packing his auto to its capacity. I am not a student of psychology and am therefore not able to understand the psychology behind such rush. I find myself belonging to the miniscule minority who step out of the compartment without such haste. As I move out of the compartment and walk leisurely towards the staircase, I am often pushed aside by these sprinters. Probably I pose a hurdle for these sprinters of the “metro race”. They overtake me with a scornful look. 

I see similar impatience among people in Delhi while driving. At traffic signal, if the signal is red they will invariably never stop before the zebra crossing. Neither will they shut down the engine of the car even it might be another two-three minutes for the signal to change. On the contrary they keep inching ahead slowly, even though it may still be a minute for the signal to turn green. Once the signal change to yellow on the other side, they zoom ahead as if they are participants of a car rally, only to be halted by another red-light just five hundred meters away. Why this insanity of the sane?

इस शहर में हर शख्स परेशान सा क्यों है? (शहरयार)

Any answer?

A CHILDHOOD DISCARDED (11/03/2016)

Every morning, as I walk across the by-lane to reach the main road to take the chartered bus to my office, two children, among scores of school going children, draw my attention. Dressed in seconds (i.e. uniform, shoes and school bags discarded by children of affluent families of the societies nearby where their mother works as a maid) they walk down their school enthusiastically, full of confidence and zest. The elder one is a girl child approximately 8-9 years old and the younger one, probably her brother, is a 5 years old boy. While most children avail the luxury of a school bus, taxi or even van, some of which are air-conditioned, to reach their school, these two children walk down to their school nearby. I closely observe them every day. I do not find any streak of dissatisfaction on their face- they do not appear to question why they are not entitled to a good school or a spotless uniform and shoes or the luxury of a school bus like other school going children of their age. I do not find them complaining their fate- far from it- they appear quite happy and satisfied- satisfied at the fact that they are still better off than hordes of children who do not have the privilege to even attend school and who I find loitering on the pavements while their mothers work as domestic help in apartments nearby and their fathers pull rickshaws. These groups survive on food brought by mothers- stale food of the previous night discarded by households where they work as menial worker. It’s really painful that the nation has failed in providing a respectable livelihood to each of its citizen even after about 70 years of independence. But I see hope in the eyes of those two school going children who, I find, are fighting a lone battle to change their fate and rewrite their future. They exhibit resilience not found even in adults. The nation needs to respond to basic requirements of such children if it aims to control juvenile crimes. Education has the strength to bring about revolutionary social change and hence the nation must ensure good education for each child, irrespective of his family of birth, in order to bridge the gap between rich and poor. If a nation takes care of this basic need of its citizens, the progress of a nation will take care of itself.