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Long commutes, packed trains and filthy stations
fail to dispirit our correspondent.
BY SHUBHRA ROY
15th October 2005:
While it’s a well–known fact that the much-vaunted
local trains of Mumbai and Kolkata are a culture of
their own, these recent months have given me a glimpse
of what these ubiquitous modes of transport bring to
life – beyond just the commute. For this writer,
Mumbai local trains were a novelty not to be missed -
First of all there is the great divide of first class
and 2nd class passengers.
 There is distinct difference in the way the two classes
intermingle – a delicate shuddering, a slight sniff that
a first class passenger accords to the 2nd class
passenger if the lesser mortal so ventures to come to
close to the higher order. Often, a suspected
mortal who is traveling on the sly on the 1st class
is greeted with hostile questioning and put to an
intense interrogation that intensifies as the culprit
looks increasingly guilty. Of course, if initial
questioning proves his/her credentials, then there are
sheepish looks all around. The Spanish inquisition is
tough of course, but this one comes kind of close. There
are a number of children who travel ticketless and
of course as is the human norm, instead of getting into
a crowded second class compartment, they happily wing
their way into the upper class especially if the train
is going empty.
What surprised me was the apathy, in fact downright
anger and hatred the first class travellers display even
to the old, infirm and the children who do venture into
the compartment without tickets. While their insistence
that only genuine ticket-holders should be
boarding the compartment is understandable, the disgust,
the anger and the sheer hatred was indicative truly of a
bigger problem – there seems to be a feeling among the
first class passengers (mainly populated by the middle
class of our society) that the lower classes are taking
over, that the line that divides the poor from the
middle
class is blurred, that those things that distinguish the
classes are not so apparent and also that the lower
classes are by force, trying to take away the privileges
that the middle class enjoys.
The fear of any segment of humanity is palpable in the
degree of fear and anger they display towards the said
OTHER.. and that clearly comes across in the behaviour
of the occupants of the first class compartments..
On the other hand, during the early hours of the
morning, I find that the first class is completely
overrun by students belonging to families of lower
income groups (quite discernible from their dress and
demeanour) and there is barely place for the genuine
ticket-holders to stand. Parallels to this can be seen
in India, in electricity theft and land squatting
etc. obviously, there are fundamental problems of
limited basic infrastructure and resources, which
are fought over fiercely by a large number.
The other part of course is the much-famed local train
culture which truly has a life of its own that it
celebrates each day, in the midst of clamour, heat,
perspiration, bone-weary
exhaustion and no elbow room. Its amazing truly to see
the kind of desperation and yet the fellow feeling
(perhaps because of the despair) that the passengers
face each day. It's truly the case – the less you have,
the more you fortify their spirits and forge ahead.
People travelling for over two and a half hours in some
cases, with no elbow room at all, squeezed between
fellow passengers seem to still manage enough strength
to converse, go home and attend to their daily needs,
take care of the needy too – and haggle for a bargain
with the vendor passing by. The spirit of man made
famous in Hemingway’s “ Old man and the sea “ can
perhaps be seen in real life in the Mumbai's trains.
Recently, I met a young lady officer in plain clothes
travelling home from an early shift. It was
fascinating to see the kind of dedication that takes
someone from a pretty middle–class upbringing to
decide to get into a job that her contemporaries
would not touch with a barge pole. She has overcome
great odds and managed to make a life for herself
through her efforts to be who she wants to be… she
was wearing everyday clothes, yet her body language
clearly shouted from the roof top her profession.
Interestingly enough, my one and only brush with a nasty
kind of pass from a young man was totally ignored by my
fellow-passengers. Despite hearing about the famous
Mumbai safety for women, I frankly did not see any one
rise up and try to support or help me when I caught the
offender and was trying to haul him to the police. There
was more of the famous Delhi indifference on display. If
Mumbai has a reputation for being safe for women, I
think it could be because everyone is so tired commuting
they have no energy to become eve-teasers!
The government's railway machinery deserves kudos in
what it continues to achieve through its excellent
service, and the mind –boggling number of passengers it
serves. What though remains sad is that the
infrastructure and the stations are nowhere close
to world-class standards even if the service is – can we
not do something? It would be nice if as Indians (and I
include you and I), we would consider cleanliness of our
surroundings of importance and try to do our bit to keep
our stations clean. Neither the paid employees, nor the
passengers seem to notice the years-old filth and grime
that beset each and every corner of the railway system.
Some day, hopefully, when we have sorted out our sunrise
industries and developed some conscious attention to
quality and entrepreneurship, we will also pay attention
to such issues and be more active citizens. In a society
and economy where the largest portion of the population
is fighting for survival, the crème de la crème is busy
killing people on the streets while driving drunk and
irresponsible, and the middle class is worrying itself
silly about how to avoid sliding into the lower rungs of
the spectrum or manage to climb into the upper rungs of
society. And of course, let's not forget the
intellectuals (all kinds and colours) who I still
believe (woe betide me) are the lone cries for
justice, peace and happiness for odd balls issues that
no one really has the time or the inclination for….
But hopefully, in the midst of the chaos and the
nonsensical fun that we call India, somewhere there is a
pattern emerging and we will get it right, walking to
our goal without knowing how we got there.
BY SHUBHRA ROY |
