Love in the time of Railways

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For a long time (really long) in my life, I had never seen the insides of a train. Totally devoid of the experiences of the world within the world of which I caught a glimpse through the crowded-platforms. Now when I avail the services of the Indian Railways, I am mostly fascinated. Every journey- irrespective of the hours spent in the dabba is distinct. All that remains constant is the set within a set found in the trains.

Continental-seeking: This tribe is pained to witness the phenomenon of missing continental cuisine in the train. And when the railway worker politely laughs the request away, he is taught the history lessons (even i did not get the relation). The worker still keeps the bewildered smile.

Know-it-all: Brace yourselves for this species. "After all they have experienced the world, already" and you still are immature. After evaluating you from your sex to the profession, they do not fail to pass judgments. No, don't dare argue with them or you will have be taught the sacred lessons of morality.

Mom away from home: Almost missed the train and hence no food supplies for the night or you just don't have the appetite! Dont worry in either case iff you are lucky, you will get the food- home cooked poori and aloo ki sabzi. Showering motherly love the aunty won't be able to see your loneliness. Her heart will melt and even if you dont want to, you would have to "accompany" them.

X-Ray machines: Cliché but nothing else would justify their activities. Right from the time you boarded your train to the point their eyes shut because the massive hard work involve, they will scan you. And no, not just the men but women have a busy day at work too.

Phénku: They were created for entertainment, to ensure that you keep half-a-mile smile right through the journey.  They will be full of interesting tales. Tales you have always heard before-just from another pheku. From ghosts to famous people, they have seen them all.

The Nerd: My favorite people. They won't bother anyone. Umm or
maybe they would. But to those only  who want to prematurely doze off . This is because you see they are accompanied by this interesting novel whose suspense-drama has killed their sleep cells ( are there any sleep cells?)

And the last who may or may not be a subset of the above sets is the "in-love" couples! They are still the same: lovey-dovey! Even when the world sleeps, they are busy because of things they best know of!

When I questioned myself...

Things in life are divided in two categories. While some are desired, others are loathed. But, fortunately for some and unfortunately for the others, some things in life are complementary. And at that time, we either see the half-empty or the half-filled part , based on our perception or need at that point of time.

Journalism is that one thing in life, at present. When the decision to pursue journalism was taken, it was very well known to me that it would not be a cakewalk. The shift from the desk to reporting as an intern was indeed amazing. But little did I know that an untoward incident would force me to question the career choices I made in my life and the bubble in which I was living would burst, juxtaposing me to the ruthless realities of the society.

A few days earlier…

After working on the assignments during the daytime, I came back to the office to file the stories. By the time the stories were filed, the clock had already breached my curfew timings. In an attempt to not bother my guardians, I decided to avail the service of an auto. I was still some 100 feet away from home when the auto driver dropped me 'safely'.   

Relishing a chocolate-Marie cookie and analyzing events of the day, I  started walking towards home in a carefree manner. Just around 25 feet away from the house, a man stealthily came from behind on a bike, took advantage of the dark place (defunct street lights in a community park!) and snatched my bag. With the bag, he took away everything. From my wallet which had debit cards, identification cards to my prized possession-my gadgets.

The incident shook me from inside. Never before, had I experienced such a terrible thing when the probability of 'anything could have happened to me' was at its peak. The authorities are surely to be blamed for their irresponsible behavior. But the incident posed some questions in front of me.

Its when I questioned myself...

 

Why did this happen?

What if there was a serious assault?

Have I taken the right decision to follow this career?

Can I accept the complementary things that come along with something I cherish?

After days of self introspection and analytical dissection, I am trying to accept the complementary things. The incident has sadly left a deep mark on my mind but then the fact that journey would never be a cakewalk was always known. Maybe this was the way the bubble had to burst. Only time will tell if this was for better or worse!

Why the bias?

     Sometimes when we delve deeper into even the most normal daily event, we are left intrigued by the intricacies of it. Since times immemorial, I have always been a ‘public transport’ aficionado. Hence, when it was time to traverse distance between distance between my office and home, I chose to avail the services of ‘shared autos’. Shared autos because ‘special autos’ have the maximum potential of forcing one to use the expression I-am-broke frequently.

   Just another day, I took an auto to the office. Since it was a shared auto, the driver was halting his vehicle after every minute in order to find passengers for his trip. After failed attempts to convince passengers to travel in his auto, he finally found two prospective passengers, a girl and a boy. After confirming their destination, the driver announced the amount he was to charge both of them for their journey. But, both the girl who was holding a red and white box of Domino’s pizza and the boy didn’t seem happy. You ask why?

Because they were of the opinion that the driver was charging them ‘too much’ for their 'only'10-km journey! While the auto wallah after intense negotiation came down to 15 rupees from 20 rupees, they wanted to pay only 10 rupees. Even after the driver kept convincing them that he wasn’t overcharging, they refused to agree. And owing to their disappointment with the driver due to 5 rupee margin, they left.

I am sure this is a story relate-able to many of us. On one side sometimes we can happily buy a pizza which ranges from anywhere between 300-700, on the other side we simply refuse to pay that extra remuneration to a needy daily wager whose whole family might depend on him for survival which it rightly deserves. I ask why such an indifferent attitude? Why the bias?

Because it’s only about an ordinary daily wager!

Because unlike Dominos (or any other brand), its prices are bargain-able!

Because helping a brand economically >>> doing your bit to improve the living standard!

In a lecture few years back while studying the economic disparities in the developing countries, my professor had raised similar issue. She rightly pointed that when we do not hesitate to spend money on high-end brands which we know are many a time overpriced, we should in the same manner not hesitate to pay if not extra, then justified amount to these auto wallahs and rickshaw wallahs. Some might argue that how can a little extra remuneration benefit this community. But I am sure that even an individual can make a significant difference to the lives of these people who value even a rupee. We should try our best to remove this bias and side by side contribute in bridging the economic gap.

The journey has just begun..

   I can’t help but pull out the cliché card from my pocket to describe the beginning of a new chapter in my Book of Life. “And how time flies!” Even though it is used metaphorically but in the ten ‘short yet long’ months at my journalism school, I think I actually saw how time flew. No, not joking. The clock in its different forms, shapes and sizes haunted me forever reminding me of those rigid contours of the deadlines. Did you think who really cares about deadlines? Oh! A journalist, irrespective of the fact if it’s a student or a professional can surely enlighten you with the real value of time (timeliness).

Nine months back it was all different.

   While doing the undergraduate course, sense of urgency in life had gone astray. Both the education set up in the college and mesmerizing beauty of the new city were responsible for the obnoxious carefree attitude. But you tell me, how a college student can concentrate when it’s a learnt fact that exams are only an annual responsibility, when attendance criterion exists only on the chequered-patterned pages of a register littered with dark red slanting lines and the assignments are optional. It has to succumb to adventures of the new city calling it to unravel its mysteries from every direction. And so Chandigarh ensured that the ‘deadline’ word lightened in my mind dictionary. The only time it mattered was when the scare of the strict night in-timings of the PG accommodation (Girls PG, I tell you!) sprang back to life and even a couple of seconds made a difference.

Then the J-school happened.

    There wasn’t even the basic transition phase. Life was dragged back to the track. But, this time the wind blew in the opposite direction. From early mornings aided by multiple alarms to coffee overdosed late nights, it was all hectic. Important Assignments and more assignments were the order of the day(s) in the J-school. Sometimes it was the reporting, other times the cumbersome editing. And some days hell broke loose because those days were based on photography assignments (umm..I am photographically challenged). There was never any chance of carefree attitude because there were always DEADLINES looming over our heads. Even for cutting-chai drinking sessions. As mentioned in the beginning, time used to fly. Especially during assignments minute and the second hand of clocks made every possible effort to outrun each other.

    After ten months, life has come to a full circle and laid foundation for the new beginnings. Every moment spent inside the third floor campus was worth the effort. The super fast software lessons, forcing the eyes to hear those lectures, taking turns to read the presentation slides in order to stay alert in the class, surfing and nodding during the discussion to prove that one is actually present in the class, though being virtually absent. With the lessons learnt from the past, its time to experience the STRESS in reality. Its time to learn, unlearn and relearn again.

Let the voter vote!

    Majority of us by this point of time 'by heart' know what 'by the people, of the people and for the people' means. Exactly. DEMOCRACY. And so, yesterday I finally became a part of this democratic process in India.You see I, for the very first time got my finger inked. The experience was great. I felt empowered. Instead of just criticizing repeatedly about the same old things, its refreshing to exercise the power bestowed by the Constitution .

Since I happen to be doing a postgraduate course from my home state only, I was lucky enough to
exercise my vote. But not many people share my luck. In India, people tend to leave their home towns in search of better academic and job prospects. They are unable to commute back for a day to their home town in order to cast their vote. The reasons differ and these may or may not be rational. The unfortunate part is that majority of this age group Wants to vote but cannot.Why? Just because they are studying or earning their bread and butter in a place within India but not their home state. That is enough to prevent them from voting.

In my own batch at IIMC Jammu, out of 13 people only one was able to vote. Rest of them couldn't since they do not belong to the state. Imagine what difference those 12 votes would have made.This is not just about those 12 votes but there are many such 12-vote stories. Such stories can certainly play a crucial role in deciding the main players of the government.

What I fail to understand is the rationale behind the absence of a flexible system of voting where Indian citizens could avail their right through out length and breadth of the country. Not only would this improve the voting percentage (which is needed also) but subsequently ensure an increase in participation.

Not much can be done to forcibly get a registered voter to the polling station. But I am sure constructive steps can be taken to get the polling station to a willing registered voter. Let's empower each voter irrespective of his/her geographical location and ensure that in the end India, The democracy emerges as the winner.