Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Just hear them out...


The Kolkatans witnessed yet another suicide on the Metro Railways tracks today, and as usual the trains were delayed, the stations closed down, the harassed commuters cursed the Kolkata Metro for not having enough “anti metro suicide policies” and of course sent the poor soul into hell and back again. Me and my brother who were among the unfortunate thousands who had been affected, by the sad demise, did all the above, and then as a consequent went off shopping for our parent’s anniversary gifts.

But in the midst of all these we easily forgot to spare even one kind thought to the person who had died to the extent that when we were returning from our shopping three hours later, both of us, were relieved that the body had been cleared, that the Metro had resumed their normal schedule.

It was only when we both were crossing the Rabindra Sadan Metro station that our thoughts went back to the poor soul, who had ended his or her life on the very same tracks just hours ago. We didn’t even know whether he was a man or a woman, a girl or a boy, old or young, just that someone had committed suicide and thrown all our schedules to disarray. I marvel upon the fact that how mechanical have we all become. Here is a person like you and me, who probably had a lot of dreams, hopes, likes and dislikes, and he ends all of them on one fine day in front of hundreds of commuters, and the majority of us are angry just because we would be running behind schedule for a few hours.

It was then the thought stuck me, that how badly we need one of those counseling centers here in Kolkata. The rising suicide rate shows that people are becoming more and more prone to depression, to the extent that suicide in today’s Kolkata has become a thing of regular occurrence. Have we become that insecure, that depressed, that lonely, that death becomes our only escape route from the world?

I believe what we most need in today’s world is just a voice to hear us out. If only some of us could talk to someone, maybe then, a whole lot of our problems could be sorted out. But unfortunately most of us are too busy to sort out our own problems that we seldom spare thought for others. Yes it is indeed true that some of us, do take out time to listen to other’s woes, but the majority of us, believe that our problems are the most grievous of all and therefore why would we need to listen to others. This reminds me of that saying, “when they came for the Jews, I did not protest, for I wasn’t a Jew, when they came for the Christians, I did not protest, for I wasn’t a Christian, when they came for the Hindus, I did not protest for I wasn't not a Hindu, when they came for the Muslims, I didn’t raise my voice, for I wasn’t a Muslim, and soon one day they came for me, and no one raised their voice, for none was left to do so”, it is indeed scary the way, we are becoming uncaring and selfish.

The other day, I was left extremely depressed due to certain work pressures, and I couldn’t think of anyone in my vicinity to tell the problem to. So I went to this Reverend I knew, and simply poured my heart out. We talked for nearly three hours, and when we had finished, I felt much less depressed and far less worried. My worries still remained the same, but I felt so light hearted and happy, the difference was that only someone had listened to my worries. If some of us, were as fortunate as me, the suicides would have been much lesser. Probably today, if that person only had someone who would have just listened to him, maybe one life wouldn’t have ended.

So my friends and foes, if you are out there, and if you feel that you can today reach out to someone close, and just hear that person out, trust me, when you are in a similar situation you would have someone to reach out to...



Saturday, June 25, 2011

A Day in the life of METRO


First of all, a disclaimer, this post is in no way related to the Bollywood movie of the same name. This one concentrates on one of the most favorite mode of transportation for millions of "Kolkatans", THE METRO RAILWAYS.... I would say they are an answer to all our transport woes, well not to all, but most certainly to some important ones... but hold on before you move away from the page, I am not about to chronicle Metro Railway's history... this is more about my personal observations about people's behavior, especially the females, since I proudly belong to that community and without any failure, always occupy the seats reserved for our "species".

For a certain gentleman, who is residing in the US at present, and has little idea about the present state of Metro Railways, and for all those respectfully ignorant souls who do not know what a gift and a curse Metro Railways is to the "Kolkatans", you guys first need to know some basic facts about the Kolkata Metro...

No the Kolkata Metro is not the same "patalraail" that Bengalis are so proud of, it's a sky walk now, zooming from one end of the City of Joy to the other... and no it's not Air Conditioned, so we Kolkatans do occasionally suffer tremendous hardship, heat and humidity in our course of the journey, but then again, we had a communist rule for 34 years in the same state, so no one's complaining!!!!! The other important fact worth knowing is that there are two rows of seats reserved for the fairer sex, as much as we would like to talk about equality, this is one of the things we are grateful to the Metro authorities for... I, on the behalf of my species, acknowledge that life would have been much tougher hadn't it been for that "Ladies seat" ....

Let's now begin with a day's journey in the Kolkata Metro as observed yours faithfully...

My tryst with the Metro begins everyday at 8:30 am when I punch in my paper ticket, into a machine, that is generally well known for it's mood swings, when it's in a good mood, people have a wonderful life, everyone is happy sliding their ticket from one end and getting it back from the other, and when our "dear ticket puncher" is in a bad mood, everyone from the commuters to the authorities have a really sad time, no amount of coaxing, caressing or cursing works... so this is the first thing to be noted, a "mood swinging ticket puncher".... then there's the elevator... ok my Metro station boasts of both options, manual and mechanic, meaning there's both an elevator to take you upstairs or one can use the stairs, needless to say most human beings with an ordinary amount of common sense would think, "who wants to take the stairs when there's an elevator????? "

My dear brothers and sisters, this is where you have misjudged the Kolkata Metro, here the speed of the elevator is actually less than your's if u decide o take the stairs... so being the quintessential late comer that I am , I have to run up the flight of stairs.. on some days, when Karma decides to reward me for my good deeds, I am on time, meaning, I am atleast 16 minutes early for the Metro, and on those rare days, I actually use the elevator... it's really a nice experience, being on a machine that's actually slower than you are... it makes one proud of the human race!!!

Oh!! another thing, the Metro stations of Kolkata, after Ravindra Sarovar, believe in natural cooling meaning there are no ACs again, which is a tad problematic considering Kolkata's weather, where there is very little scope for a "cool weather".... so every man, woman or child u meet in these stations, craving to embark on a journey would mostly be heaving and blotting away 'natural moisture' from their faces, arms, necks with a towel or a large handkerchief and often complaining about the city's weather.

I have a set group of 5 friends who I travel with, two of them are my colleagues and our favorite discussion is how The Times of India is making us slave for them. For the past three months, we have been making brilliant plans for our lives away from the TOI office, but sadly till date none of them have come remotely true, and friends, the optimists that we are, we will continue making the same plan in the coming months without any improvement in the status quo.... among the other two, one works for the Indian Oil Corporation and has amazing pair of earrings and the other dislikes us big time... her point of dislike is aimed at our mobiles, which she considers flashy and an utter waste of hard earned money, I have often spotted her discussing in low tones with the other female, and she generally shuts up when encountered by any one of us. I have a general belief that she talks about us, but then again she might not.

We ( the three of us i.e..) generally try taking the 8:33 am train, and the simple reason behind this, is that while getting on and getting off at our respective Metro Stations, we can be less barbaric and more humane, as every Metro commuter, worth his salt knows, THE KOLKATA METRO HAS THE ABILITY TO BRING OUT THE BEAST IN YOU, THE ONE WHO GETS TO SIT, SURVIVES, AND THE ONE WHO SURVIVES, GETS TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY!!!!!!
So while boarding on and boarding off the Metro between the hrs 8:15 am to 10:30 am and between the hrs 5:15 pm to 8:15 pm, the beast in every metro commuter comes out at it's best.

A very dear friend of mine, has evolved a very noble solution to winning this ongoing war. He carries along with him a really long umbrella, no matter what the weather, it's main purpose is to poke his metro compatriots, so as to enable him to get a seat, a ride in the Metro is just not a ride my friends, it's a WAR!!...

But, despite all the woes chronicled here, my life would have been unbearable had it not been for the Metro Railways. Come winter, summer, autumn or the rains, it is one mode of transport which carries me back and forth, every morning to my work and back to the people I love... It's a life saver for me, nay, for all of us. For all my complaints and sarcasm, this everyday journey will remain one of the most beautiful part of my life.

Reflection muses...

Language is the basis for recapturing experience...

- Cyhthia Selfae