Mumbai - An Addiction
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Death at a Ticket Window
Mumbai, a hurried, rushed up city! And there can be no place where this hurry and rush is better manifested than at a local railway station. And even the most polite, soft-spoken, and sensitive individuals drop all of that and exhibit petulance at the slightest of things.
I was at this ticket window. A person at a ticket window has one eye on the watch, following the progress of the second-hand very fervently as time races ahead and he stands the risk of missing his 8:28 train. The other eye is on the ticket counter, cursing the snail-paced person taking cash and distributing tickets. Tempers are at an edge. And there is an air that the slightest of provocation will result in bloodshed and riots. But then, we Mumbaikars are used to it. And if there is a provocation, then there is a 30 second altercation, some raised voices, a couple of swear words, and if someone has a sense of humour a bunch of sarcastic cracks, and the incident is forgotten.
I reached the ticket counter. And just as I was about to take my ticket, some guy, in his late 20’s came straight at the head of the queue to buy a ticket. People in the queue started shouting and yelling telling him to come in a queue.
“There has been a death in the family. That’s why I am in a hurry. Otherwise I always come in a queue.” He replied, quite courteously if you ask me. But then I had already got my ticket. Others in the queue were not so kindly disposed. One of them said.
“Death has already happened right? So what’s the hurry? Even if you reach late that person will still be dead. Come in the queue.”
Death. Such a painful thing. The greatest loss there can be. And something everyone is naturally sensitive about. But in the ticket queue, the excuse doesn’t hold ground. It’s ok for someone to die, but it’s not ok for someone to jump a queue. And it’s no fault of the person who made that statement. Because people regularly jump queues with excuses of an ailing mother and a dying uncle. And they feel it’s perfectly justifiable for them to think and say such negative things for the sake of saving five minutes in a queue at a railway station. That’s Mumbai life for you. Everything’s fair in love and war and at ticket queues.
Some people laughed. The queue jumper defiantly shoved his hand in the counter and took a ticket and left. Incident over.
I was at this ticket window. A person at a ticket window has one eye on the watch, following the progress of the second-hand very fervently as time races ahead and he stands the risk of missing his 8:28 train. The other eye is on the ticket counter, cursing the snail-paced person taking cash and distributing tickets. Tempers are at an edge. And there is an air that the slightest of provocation will result in bloodshed and riots. But then, we Mumbaikars are used to it. And if there is a provocation, then there is a 30 second altercation, some raised voices, a couple of swear words, and if someone has a sense of humour a bunch of sarcastic cracks, and the incident is forgotten.
I reached the ticket counter. And just as I was about to take my ticket, some guy, in his late 20’s came straight at the head of the queue to buy a ticket. People in the queue started shouting and yelling telling him to come in a queue.
“There has been a death in the family. That’s why I am in a hurry. Otherwise I always come in a queue.” He replied, quite courteously if you ask me. But then I had already got my ticket. Others in the queue were not so kindly disposed. One of them said.
“Death has already happened right? So what’s the hurry? Even if you reach late that person will still be dead. Come in the queue.”
Death. Such a painful thing. The greatest loss there can be. And something everyone is naturally sensitive about. But in the ticket queue, the excuse doesn’t hold ground. It’s ok for someone to die, but it’s not ok for someone to jump a queue. And it’s no fault of the person who made that statement. Because people regularly jump queues with excuses of an ailing mother and a dying uncle. And they feel it’s perfectly justifiable for them to think and say such negative things for the sake of saving five minutes in a queue at a railway station. That’s Mumbai life for you. Everything’s fair in love and war and at ticket queues.
Some people laughed. The queue jumper defiantly shoved his hand in the counter and took a ticket and left. Incident over.
Labels: death, Local Trains, Mumbai, queues, ticket window
posted by Himanshu at 2:35 AM
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