*Indian Railways and Buzzing Waiting Rooms* On a recent trip to Shirdi, I found myself at the Nasik station with lots of time to spare. As usual, the same problem with the Indian railways, my train which was supposed to arrive by early morning was running late by four hours. Pleased at being at that situation, as opposed to running after a departing train (in case I was late, as it usually happens with me), I grinned triumphantly towards the digital clock, only to find it mocking back at me as the train was delayed for two more hours. Harassed and being mocked by the digi clock, I decided to move out of the platform and enter the waiting room. On entering the waiting hall and walking in, I found that occupying the edge of one of the crowded benches was my only option and I exercised it. Looking around, I found that there were about hundred travellers in a room that was obviously meant to house just one third of that number. I also realized that somehow, airport lounges are not as interesting as are waiting rooms in Indian railways, of whatever class they may be. There were dozens of couples, some young, some old, and numerous families with lots of children trotting around. It seemed as if the entire nation was cluttered in that small space. Some were chatting, some shouting and many others like me staring, observing and lending ears to others conversations. Perhaps the number of languages being uttered was itself the proof of the diversity that we Indians are proud of. What distracted the people in the room from their respective pursuits was the advent of a Sadhu, dressed in orange clad clothes and shouting ‘Hari Om’ in loud banging voice. Having achieved a suitable state of undress, the man sat on the floor and adopted a meditative stance. Watching him being positioned in that way, people lost interest in him and continued their regular chit chats, when suddenly that Sadhu maharaj opened his ‘jhola’ and switched on to his laptop and started playing Solitaire. Topping it up, he simply opened his account on Facebook, checked onto some notifications, leaving the crowd around him gaping. Once he was done, he slipped into his stuffs quickly, and walked out of the hall without any further ado. The fact that the current era involves the use of technology at its most intrusive was actually demonstrated in no certain terms that day. Desi looking ladies in saris and salwar kameez were yapping away in their designer cell phones. A few youngsters like me were engaged in their cell phones, listening to music, reading eBooks and playing weird games that kept emanating fearful sounds! As if all this was not enough, I was further treated to the spectacle of a trendy young man, who seemed to be in the most of tearing hurries. He walked into the hall at a brisk pace with one cell phone glued to his left ear and the other one bulging out of his pocket, and his laptop bag half open, in a ready-to-act condition. Finding that there was no space for him to set up his temporary workstation, he too preferred the floor and started typing furiously into the machine while relaying instructions loudly to someone over the phone. The sense of urgency that he displayed made it clear to the onlookers that he was in a do or die situation. Unluckily for him, a toddler with a glass of orange juice in hand stumbled while running away from his mother, and spilled the liquid all over his laptop, putting a full stop to all his so-called urgent work. The argument that followed between him and the child’s mother was damn entertaining, making the waiting room stay much fun filled. In fact, it was so much fun that when it all ended, I felt very sad as if a good paisa-vasool movie had ended! Finally, it was the time of my train. I stretched a bit thanking the almighty for all that entertainment, bookmarked my novel, which I had started reading after that paisa vasool fight and moved out of the room. I was glad that finally, I had moved out of that crowded space, when again the announcements were made and my train was delayed for further two long hours, putting an end to my bubble happiness. ~Shibani Mishra #TAWfanarchy
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 09:30:00 +0000
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