That's what she said

It's easy! she said
I know what I want
and what I need
I know the path to walk
and the potholes to avoid
I know where I will be
10 years down the line
It's easy! she said
To be what I dream

It's easy! she said
To ask for help
I still know what I need
and what I want
But I also need help
and I know who to ask
One who was here
when I started
and is still around
now that I am stuck

It's easy! she said
You stayed when others didn't
and I know you will forever
So you are the place I will be
10 years from now
And we will build the future
as we had planned

You is kind. You is smart. You is important.

You've held my hand when I was in doubt.

Made me see the light at the end of the tunnel,

when all I saw was the darkness around.

You are the one I can trust to fall back on,

because you have always been there,

and promised to stay forever.

You is kind.

I've had problems with solutions I couldn't find.

You taught me to see things in a different light;

Made me face my problems,

and find the answers I sought. 

Molded me into the person I am today.

You is smart.

You are a shining light, brighter than the stars.

You are everything I could hope for,

and everything I didn't know I needed.

Let me show you who you are;

See yourself from my eyes, and believe.

You is IMPORTANT.

 

Note: The title is taken from the 2011 Oscar nominated movie "Help," adapted from Kathryn Stockett's 2009 novel of the same name.

Metro Tales: Music for the Soul

This is a story that every Delhi metro commuter has witnessed for sure. A person travelling alone, armed with headphones, probably in one or the other corner that they can snag before anyone else. This is a common scene at any given time in the day. I say this with conviction because I am one of them. Spending years travelling in the metro has definitely improved my appreciation of the privacy that headphones can give you in a crowded location.

How to know if someone wearing headphones is as engrossed in the music as it looks? There are some simple things to notice, certain characteristics that distinguish them from other passengers:
the silently, sometimes not so silently, moving lips; the tapping foot or the tapping hand; the head nodding, and sometimes a slight body sway as well. Losing yourself in the music is an easy task, but when travelling in metro, it is meant for so much more.

Music is an escape. It can be from the the loud conversations you are not a part of, hushed sweet nothings shared between couples, arguments you don't want to get involved in, or the general chaos of the crowd. Headphones in your ears give you the choice of cranking up the volume and forgetting the fact that you are being jostled between people you don't know and who have no qualms in using your body as an anchor. It is music that lets people handle long travel hours on a bad day,  or help them face an early morning travel when your brain just refuses to wake up.

Photo Courtesy: www.livemint.com

My personal favourite use of headphones is to avoid and ignore.

I do not like aunties. I am not generalizing, but you will know them anywhere because they are loud and they are intrusive! Putting on my headphones gives me the best excuse to ignore their looks and comments. Not blaming all the aunties on the metro here, but there are definitely some who you can't help but cringe away from. Another thing it helps me in is to keep my seat when I am damn tired and lucky enough to get one. If my eyes are closed I can't see you and if I have my headphones on I can't hear you. I'm tired and I am a bit lazy, sue me for thinking about myself sometimes! Even then I have had my shoulder jostled just for an aunty to ask me to "adjust." I will gladly give my seat if you are a person in need, but please don't ask me to adjust. That's just encroaching on my personal space and is not appreciated. 

To avoid making this only a rant, I believe I can give an accurate description of how it is on the other sound. The head banging and foot tapping is amusing from afar, but if it keeps jostling me, the amusement turns into frustration. Blocking every noise also blocks the polite requests, and ignoring them only makes you (me) seems like a snob.

What is clear from all the above ranting on my part is that music is part and parcel of the Delhi metro. It is something that either you choose for yourself or you suffer, or not, with a fellow passenger. The somber announcements are just not enough to pass the time or enjoy it.

Metro Tales: And We Wait

One of the first things that came to my notice when I started using the Metro regularly was that there were always people in the station or just outside who were waiting for someone. In the past 3-4 years, since I have been travelling in metro, this phenomenon has not changed even a bit. It has however escalated if my eyes are right. This escalation could be because of the increased number of passengers in the Delhi metro or simply because Delhi people love to wait!

Even in the fast paced Delhi life which popularly ‘doesn’t wait for anybody’ the people of Delhi are more than willing to wait. They have the patience of saints and I say this because I don’t or I didn’t. Delhi metro has been more than required training in patience that I ever needed in life.

Now when I try to remember a particular someone who I know was waiting, in vain or not I can’t be sure of, no one in particular comes to mind. There are just so many people that I witness everyday with earphones plugged, sitting in a corner, listening to music or playing games or chatting/talking to friends, not looking up when the metro arrives, knowing that they have to wait no matter what, that it becomes difficult to pin point one person. I am sure that you can identify with atleast one of the people I mentioned above. We have all waited in metro for someone sometime, I can be 100% sure of that.

So what is the big deal about waiting that I mentioned it? I am going to be a little sentimental here but I believe it shows human strength to some degree. We have faith when we wait; faith in the fact that the person we wait for will show up. Not to say that many of us haven’t been disappointed but we still wait don’t we? We have patience for our friends or our families or even at times friends of friends and acquaintances. The reasoning is a little mushy, believe me I know, but it’s completely logical. The happiness, even though brief because of the anger of waiting, is worth it don’t you think?

When I am waiting beside a fellow ‘waiter’? I try and keep track of when their wait finally ends. You get to see the eyes lighting up, a smile on their face as they recognize their someone in the sea of people. This happiness might turn into irritation or anger soon enough but that one moment is precious for me. So the next time you are waiting, along with the many others, try noticing these little things. If nothing they do prove to be sufficient to make the waiting time less boring. But be sure that you do not stare outrightly because that is just ‘stalker-ish’.

Will try to get the next part up sooner than later.

Metro Tales: The Beginning

Travelling the Delhi Metro everyday has become a norm in my life. It is something I do not think about because it has deeply integrated itself in the last 4 years. I had a view from the back window of my room, of a highway and the fields that lay beyond it. This view is now obstructed by the Metro bridge constructed right behind my apartment building. I would be lying if I said that it didn't bother me because it did and still does at times. However, I have come to like the quiet noise, as oxymoronic it is, that I associate with a metro passing now. I can hear the metro in the morning, as early as 5 am, and I can hear it late at night, sometimes as late as 2 am. Metro therefore has become a constant companion for me. 

In the years that I have traveled in Delhi Metro I have learned a few things. First, you have no guarantee of a seat no matter when you travel and the crowd can surprise at the best of times. Second, I believe it is an easy and comfortable way to travel, even if others would like to convince me otherwise. Lastly, it is one of the best places to observe the people around you. I have seen so many emotions within the confines of the metro's 4/6/8 coaches that I have decided to record them. 

As we know our mind is capable of feeling so much that sometimes it seems impossible that they can exist within one person. But they do and these feelings have a funny way of coming out in the most opportune or inopportune moments. I am going to try and write a series of recollections, from my time travelling in metro, which revolve around the feelings that exude from the travelers of Delhi metro. These stories won't be linear and neither will they only talk about a single event, what will remain common will be that one emotion that I felt when observing these people. I know none of the people I will write about and can only distinguish them by one or other article they were wearing or some quirk that I noticed in them. Hopefully I will be able to complete this series soon.