Delhi’s heartbeat turned metro was arriving at platform, where hundreds of us were already waiting. Everyone was in rush to get into it but when we saw the already overloaded bogies, our faces turned dull in despair. The wonderful metro, we dreamt five years ago, has turned into a routine congested train with lots of delays and apology announcements. Not once could we expect the metro to run at its exact capacity. By the time I got into the metro, I was cursing myself that I had to travel through it. Somehow I got a corner near the front gate to stand. The air conditioner’s cooling not only comforted my body but also cooled my temper. I started feeling better without the extra load/burden of frustration on my brain.
Over-rush and delays started looking trifle things in front of the comfort I was enjoying. Perhaps our human mind is designed in such a way that everything, however big it may be, when achieved once, loses its value. I was witnessing that aspect of human psychology in my own thoughts. How comfortable life had become after the introduction of metro in Delhi, still now we don’t miss a single chance of blaming it for limitations rather praising once in a while for its revolutionary contribution.
I was lost into my thoughts, when at Rajiv Chowk, two girls entered and stood beside me .They were about 13 years old and most probably were returning after school. Both were absorbed in their talk without giving any heed to people around. The only thing mattered to them by then was their science test. From their conversations, I easily figured out that the test was announced surprisingly and they were nervous about that. Newton and Einstein were the culprits, who by inventing so many theories left a legacy of science as burden on soft shoulders of students. According to them, the world would have been much better without science and tests. I smiled at their thoughts. The stupid girls were not realizing the importance of inventions, without which we couldn’t have electricity, computer and metro.
Oh yes, Metro! We could not have metros. How similar I had been to those girls, I was blaming the metro the same way before few minutes as they were cursing science. We both were complaining without actually realizing the true importance. This realization brought a smile across my lips.
While I was smiling at this thought, an announcement was made that next station would be INA (my Station). Though I boarded the train with anger and frustration, I de-boarded with new realization and optimism. :-)
