If you live in India, and you don’t have a
car or you cannot afford to take out your car daily, then you must be used to
the perennial overcrowding in all modes of public transport in the big cities. I'm omitting the bikers from this purview, because most of them would park theirs near local railway stations and take the plunge. The one advisory that comes to my mind is that ‘Don’t ever expect a seat,
always concentrate on getting a standing space where you can commute in some
comfort’! Of course, getting a standing space is no guarantee for continued
comfort due to the fact that add-on crowds keep boarding in the stations on the
way. However, this is still the only way to overcome the unease of overcrowding,
somewhat. Although the scenario applies to all public modes of transport like
the city buses, local trains and metro rail in this piece we’ll concentrate
mostly on the travails suffered inside a metro train thanks to the
claustrophobic interiors.
Now, what are the dangers of overcrowding?
They are manifold with the main sources being the omnipresent backpacks, the omnipotent
big bellies, the camouflaged bullies, the parasitic smart-phone users and other
offenders; the last bit about offenders we’ll dwell upon at the end of this
piece.
You know very well what backpacks or big
bellies do to you during the ride with constant pushing, pinning and at times
almost crushing you out of breath. Whenever this twosome combines in one or more
commuters you end up with no outward reaction but curse. In the somewhat rare case of a
triplet—backpack, big belly and bully in one fearsome whole—you’d feel like breaking out through the
windows which is not at all possible though. Smart-phone users are mentioned
here as ‘parasitic’ which is because they always use your bodies to lean
against or worse for carrying on their ‘must’ mobile indulgence. Camouflaged bullies
mean those persons who look harmless and peaceful enough, but at the opportune moments
they’d push you, jostle you, elbow you mercilessly just to get to their
‘deemed’ comfortable standing space. Unfortunately, such bullies include even some
of respected senior citizens who display unbelievable prowess to get to their
reserved seats or to stand in front of those seats for catching the next
opportunity. And, if you happen to make the cardinal mistake of commenting on
their ‘activities’ they’d engage you in a furious debate for the rest of your
journey.
Then, there are also additional dangers
that invariably happen during your struggle. The mobile of the person squeezed
in shoulder-to-shoulder to you would invariably ring, and the person would
respond inevitably. He’d howl into the phone to beat the in-built noise, and in
effect the hollering would attack your hapless ear hole relentlessly; to make
matters worse the ‘call’ will last for the rest of your journey. You’d try to
move your head right or left, or you’d try to crane your neck upwards; but
there is no help at all for you. During summer the smell of sweat is a distinct
disadvantage for many ‘sensitive’ commuters, and is unavoidable. However, at
times the smell converts into a stench in no time, and invariably too. The person
in half sleeve shirt squeezed in shoulder-to-shoulder to you would suddenly raise
his arm to grab the metallic bar above for added safety. The holes of your nose would get cruelly exposed
to the gaping hole created by the action. Again, you’d try desperately to move
your face right or left and crane you neck upwards; but there is absolutely no
help available for you to beat the stench. You’d justifiably like to include such
persons in ‘other offenders’ category.
There is a very potent danger that lurks
in every overcrowded space; it can happen anytime taking everyone unawares on
most occasions. I’d personally advise you to expect this in you all your future
journeys from now on; anywhere, not just in overcrowded public transport;
however, in the claustrophobic interiors as we mentioned earlier this could be
deadly. Well, you are intelligent enough to guess
it already. Trapped in overcrowded spaces it makes you seethe with anger, want
to shout out or beat up the offender; to make matters worse the stench hangs on
in the closed air for an intolerably long time. As a preventive measure, like
in cases of smoking or spitting, one can think of putting up a disclaimer ‘farting
strictly prohibited’; however, this crude usage could grievously hurt the finer
sensibilities of commuters. Therefore, it could be as simple as ‘gassing strictly
prohibited’ which will be understood by all for the intended meaning despite
the word having various other connotations. But the problem is bound to linger on, because
so far there is no time-tested methodology to find out and book such offenders.
If you have any other issue regarding this purview please feel free to put it up here.
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