Seat in a Metro : Ladies Special

If you have ever travelled by the Delhi Metro or have a basic idea about it, you would know how the Seats are divided, still let me give a brief intro - basically -

1. The first compartment is reserved for ladies only (except in the violet line - as far as I am aware). Any male passenger is requested not to travel by this.
2. 4 seats per compartment are marked for ladies.
3. 12 seats per compartment (except in the first and the last compartment where only 8 seats) are marked for the old or the physically challenged passengers.

Now whenever a new girl enters the metro compartment, she will scan the entire compartment for a possible seat.

There are two outcomes for the above -

1. She finds a seat and no matter who the girl is, if she finds a seat in the metro (especially if she has not boarded from the first station or is travelling in peak hours), you will see her do a happy victory dance. The dance May be a very small one and only restricted to expressions or a rare gleam in her eyes but it is always there!!
2. She doesn't find a seat and then goes and stands in front of a seat she feels should empty soon enough. In such a case she will keep staring the person on the seat and on the adjacent ones unless they get up. Mind you, if stares could kill, this would be the stare. However, since the others also travel daily, they have grown immune to the stare. Also, the stare might be occasionally accompanied by a grunt - verbal or non-verbal.

Special clause - a girl is defined by how adjustable and gentle she is. All the girls apt in the art of travelling in the daily metro are vicious and ferrocious when it comes to getting their bags scanned or entering the metro compartment; however, once in the compartment and when there is no seat readily available, they will talk to everyone and get some space made.

Not just their gentle, polite and adjusting behaviour is what is shown here, but also their physical fitness. A girl of size 24 to 124 can fit in the same space if it is in the Delhi metro!! Of course the others being pushed into one another doesn't count!

Let us now look to some other scenarios - when in the General compartment, girls always know that it is the third entrance from the end and the third entrance from the beginning where the 'Ladies Only' seats are marked. They will crowd this exit the most (Even I do 😏) . If with a male companion, it is his responsibility to get a seat adjacent to the ladies only seat and save the ladies only seat for the lady - you see, when someone can fight the war for you, why do you need to fight your way through the sweat, heat and bodies?

Sometimes it has happened that there is a male on the ladies only seat - no girl can bear it. Its like written in the 'unspoken Constitution of the Ladies' and needs to be followed religiously. So even when the person seems to be deserving more than you, thou shall not get the 'Ladies Only' seat if thou not a Girl.

However, the converse aint true. If a girl is sitting on a 'Old or Physically Challenged seat', no one can make her get up, unless she wants to. Well, here we confirm to Newton's laws, I guess.

Now the legendary part, any girl, no matter how old she May be, will never (I repeat, NEVER) go and sit on and 'Old and Physically Challenged' Seay unless it is empty and there are lesser persons around to think she is 'Old' 🙈🙊.

[well, again quoting the 'unspoken Constitution of the Ladies', even at 600 or whatever her age is, the red Lady (Melisandre) is a GIRL. Respectfully, you May call her a lady. But she will always be a girl. The same has been followed throughout this article and I suggest that you incorporate it in your lives as well!]

So, in short, its a sin for a girl to make someone get up and then occupy the 'Old and Physically Handicapped' Seat.

Let us now know what happens to the girls who keep the attitude that 'I can stand'. Mostly, girls who don't aim for a seat, aim for the doors. They would keep their bags between their legs and stand, resting their weights on the partitions adjacent to the doors. Most of these girls, read, see a movie, listen to songs or talk to other people on the phone. However, no matter what they are reading, watching or listening to, they will always be interested in what others are doing.

Some of these girls are just pretending to do what they are doing- they actually keep a look out for the seat, secretly and jump on the prospect of getting one. Some are of the attitude that one in hand is better than two in bush and don't leave the partition for a probable seat. Still rest are slow. They only get to know that a seat had been vacated when the person occupying the seat previously gets down. By then, all they are left to do is turn and look at the new person who is busy adjusting his or her 'tashreef' in the newly conquered seat/space as the rest of persons on the bench try to capture some more territory to theirs.

Well, I am different. I do stand at the third door and often get a seat no exceptions. Yet, if I read, I read.

If I see a movie, I see the movie.

Else i observe around and gather more content and inspiration for such posts and then draft the post, just like i did now.

The iPhone Conundrum

After a very long time (lie!!) I am traveling by the Delhi metro (well.. After quite long I am traveling at this hour.. Otherwise I traveled on Monday itself and today is just Thursday). What I notice significantly in the train is that almost every girl is holding an iPhone. Mostly it is 6s but quite 5 series as well. Regardless of the size, color, cover or willingness-to-flash the brand, an iPhone, nonetheless.

Just a couple of years back, I sought Apple products to signify two things - riches and even more riches. The first riches is in terms of technology - iPhone is a one of it's kind phone and Apple products have the market still in awe with the maintained standards, security and style. The second and the greater of the riches is definitely the Richie Rich type of riches. And yet, here, everyone (almost everyone) has an iPhone.

I am not pointing fingers as I, myself, am typing this on an iPhone. However, this iPhone is more my dad's than mine in the second sense of riches. I am still battling everyday with Google and the user manual on iBooks for the first kind of riches. It has been more than eight months since my dad brought an iPhone unannounced. Unable to decipher how to insert the sim card, he handed it to me. I had to call a colleague who had recently purchased an iPhone to find out the same. Since then, my status with my iPhone is much like a guy's with his crush - it's complicated.

My primary reason to carry this expensive beauty in my hands is none of the three S factors, I mentioned above. I use iPhone for my love for songs and karaoke. There is this wonderful app Smule, which was recommended to me by a friend. Now I had Smule on my previous android as well but that was only to fulfill my hobby. Smule on iOS offers so much more. It lets you use some modifiers and then record your voice. I fell in love with my voice when I heard it on Smule on iOS and thus in turn, with iPhone on a whole.

Coming back to where we started - everyone has an iPhone. And as far as my observations lead me to, iPhone is much, way much popular in girls than in guys. I believe (as I have also witnessed), this is due to the guys gifting an iPhone to their fiancee. This brings us to the conundrum that I am facing - I have an iPhone 6s plus, already. I am also quite happy with it, as I have mentioned.

So, requesting all the guys and girls, feel free to suggest me what else can I take take as gift from my fiancee as and when he comes ;)

'Love Stories' in a metro

On Monday, while travelling in the Metro, a strange thing happened to me. I got to the station just in time to

board the train. It was one crowded coach of a crowded train that I boarded! There was just some space by the door where one could stand. I went as inside as possible (which wasn’t even two full steps) and then held onto the left side handle by the door. There was already someone standing, leaning against the left side map and so I had to stand partially blocking the way to the door.

Then, probably at Yamuna Bank Station (enroute Pragati Maidan to Noida City Centre), a lot of people got in (A lot of people do get in at Yamuna Bank station, I am not sure about what I am going to jot down next). After the doors closed and the people inside the metro shifted to let the crowd settle in, a man, dressed in a very nice black suit, blue shirt, with curly hair like those of Bobby Doel, asked me to get a little aside. He had easily spotted probably the only one spot in the entire metro that wasn’t crowded - just in front of me, unfortunately, also just before the metro door. And it was just enough to accommodate one person.

When he asked me to move aside, I wanted to remind him that the spot he was aiming for, would be the spot used by passengers to board and exit the train, but I decided to go with the better decision of his, and stayed silent! However, for anyone travelling on that route, even I know that the stations that follow are the major stations where people get off. And nothing was different that day either.

For few stations that followed like Akshardham, Mayur Vihar I, Mayur Vihar Extension and Ashok Nagar, the crowd getting down is not much and it could be managed to move aside to let a couple of people board or exit the train. But for Noida sectors and the stations that follow, this is something that seriously isnt possible. The exit doors are so much crowded, that you just cannot stand there.

I stood right behind this young, handsome person watching him get hesitant a little, at each station. For the earlier stations, he was in a situation of a fix, for there is hardly any place to move near the doors. There was a girl to his left and another man to his right. He had to move nearer to the girl every time someone boarded or exited the train. There was a very confused expression on his face that amused me. At each station, as soon as I saw him have that look, I couldn’t help smile remembering how badly I wanted to warn him against this.

For the next crowded stations, I saw him get down at every single station to let the crowd from the Metro exit and then enter back into the metro. Every time he got out of the metro, he wouldn’t let go of the handle, in case he missed the metro. And his hesitant or confused expression changed to one with worry and irritation. Every time he exited the metro, I couldn’t help supress a giggle.

Before moving ahead, let me share something with everyone - something has gotten into me these days and whenever there is even slightly funny around me, I couldn’t help laugh hard; even if I am in public!

So I laughed… thankfully, I laughed silently.

Finally, at Botanical Garden station, where to the joy of the poor, cute fellow, most of the metro gets empty, you just had to see his expression. He got down in the good gesture and the moment he stepped on the platform, he kept trying to get back in but the number of people getting down at that particular station is so high that he couldn’t even get space to keep his single foot onto the train. I was still laughing.

While entering in (FINALLY!), he saw me supress at laugh and he smiled too. It was a very sweet and modest kind of smile nonetheless, it was great.

He spotted a seat and went to sit. I kept on laughing (it is hard to stop when once I start laughing). We exchange one or two looks with smiles, before people started looking and suddenly the sweet turned into awkward. I don’t know about him but I tried to get a look of him every time I could but after that he wasn’t looking.

The next day, I boarded my usual ladies coach and it was rather crowded. Again, I stood near the door. There was an instance where I had to move aside to let huge crowd deboard and there was no option. So I deboarded to let others get down and then board back. As I got down, I remembered the guy I had seen the previous day, do the same and smiled. That was when I knew this is going in my blog.

There are several instances when you meet a person and you just don’t like them. Or a stranger says something that might offend us. But there are very few moments when a stranger affects you in a positive manner. There are very few strangers who leave you with a smile. This particular guy, was one for me.

Not only I remember him for his good gesture or the laughter I enjoyed, but he was a stranger with whom I shared a small and sweet instance.

While travelling in a metro, it is often that we step over someone's feet, push somebody or the seat fights, but how often have you given someone a sweet smile? Or a sweet memory? For that, this stranger will always be a special stranger. He is definitely one person, if you find, you could befriend!

Three major differences between the Ladies coach and the General Coach in Delhi Metro.

I spent good one and a half months going to and back from my training office. And in these one and a half months, I have taken the Delhi Metro for the exception of 2 times. Rest each and every day, twice a day, I have the privilege to  travel in the Delhi Metro.

No, I am not being sarcastic here. Delhi Metro is definitely a backbone for Delhi. I see hundreds of people making their way across the city. Had it been not for the metro, people wouldn’t even take jobs which like requires hours to drive to. Definitely, if we were to ever count the blessings on Delhi, the Metro would be in the tops, and the UPA Government might never even make it to the list. Well, lets just keep that for another post; either ways with blogging stuck up in my head, I am already out of topics.

Continuing to the Delhi Metro, let me first be brief about what the topic actually is.

To all those who have travelled in the Delhi Metro, they know that "The first compartment of Every Train is reserved for ladies only". I initially travelled in the ladies compartment both the times, but thanks to a new friend, I am now travelling in the general compartment in the way back. And there are some prominent differences that I noticed, which I am going to share!

1. No matter if every seat is full, atleast 2 ladies will adjust (in every more than 2 seater seats). And in the general compartment, even if there is a little space and it is like VISIBLE clearly, people don’t ask you AT ALL to move here or there to make space. I mean, general is definitely much more crowded than the Ladies compartment, and the same ladies travel in it. Yet, no one seems to mind standing if in the general compartment. And honestly, I have no reason (rational or irrational) about it.

2. As soon as someone gets up from their seat in the Ladies compartment, even before they have moved a step forward, there is already someone on the seat. The golden rule of the Ladies Compartment - "If someone moves, they are getting up, go GRAB that seat" :P .. Something it is so funny. And there is a little less exception to this rule in the general compartment. I was travelling one day in the general and it was so damn crowded, so I decided that we will go in the next one but what the hell, lets just stand with the crowd. Initially people pushed passed me to enter the compartment and then I thought I might want to move along so as to not being crushed by a stamped, just then a lady pushes me with all her strength in the opposite direction to grab a seat. I mean what the hell lady?? You could be a little better with people half your age!! And I think because aunties behave like this, the young crowd is a little too reluctant to give seats to even the needy.

Whereas one day when I was travelling in the general compartment, a few seats vacated and there

were enough candidates to claim all of those, still no one moved an inch till the gates were completely closed. And even then, men were gentleman enough to offer the seats to any lady standing than running to the seats themselves.

You know I have been mostly proud being a girl but at situations like these, I think are these really women - the softer of the two??

Anyways, finally and definitely the best -

3. Whenever a small kid (less than 2 years) enters in the Ladies compartment, all the standing people surround the baby and start talking to him/her. They keep talking and trying to get his/her attention till the mother and the baby have not boarded off the train. So you hear a lot of 'awwz' and all the cute expressions. And yesterday a man was holding his little boy in the metro general compartment and then the baby started making noises seeing from the window. The two men besides that man with the baby made such faces as though the man was suffering from some very bad disease. I mean common guys!! The baby will make weird noises and that's totally cute!!

 

I will surely continue my analysis on the two different Metro compartments and be back with more; but I think it will take some while longer for my training ends tomorrow and so does my daily metro journey!!

Ps - If you got some more, do share with me and everyone else ;)