Monday, May 4, 2009

Can 2 hours of daily travelling still be enjoyable?

After being in Mumbai for almost a year, travelling is no more a pain. While for a beginner getting into a local train seemed to be too scaring, sooner rather than later, the push-in and push-out (read boarding and de-boarding) becomes an integral part of one's daily life. So, when i landed up at Delhi for my summers (and for summer training), i was sure that it can’t be worse than what i had already experienced. But Boy-o-boy, what an amazing experience I was in for!!

My morning travel schedule:
8:29 a.m. –Metro feeder bus from Shalimar area to Netaji Subhash Place metro station
8:51 a.m. – Metro from NSP to Kashmiri Gate
9:14 a.m. – Metro from Kashmiri Gate to Rajiv Chowk
9:30 a.m. – Office-office

But the journey wasn’t tiring. It was actually wonderful. Not the least because everything was good. Like people actually queuing up for a metro train (ask any local train commuter in Mumbai and he’ll be astounded to hear that), clean and well maintained trains and station premises, punctuality in operations, air-conditioned coaches, escalators, smart card to scan-in and scan-out, security arrangements, timely announcements….the list is long. Everything mentioned above is appreciable, no doubt about that. But that is not a KCA of my current post. (Key Concern Area – been long since i last used a jargon in one of my presentations; wheeew, feeling gr8)

What do you do when you have one hour to spend in the morning, and no one to talk? Yeah, no one to talk for one full hour!! For those good-for-nothing-else fellows who would study using some xerox material for some exam, which is months away, please don’t read ahead. Now for those interesting, intelligent, candid, and most importantly observing guys (n gals) who would rather choose something else to make informed investment decision (lolzzz, here comes another over-abused phrase from a would-be-MBA) as to how to spend their precious little time, i have something to share. I chose the time to observe the feminine folk in general. K, kidding, not everyone, only young girls! But this wasn’t the typical NSP (nain-suk prapti; word courtesy: my sis) or a usual checking-out-a-gal. Honestly! I am serious. Gosh, i know it’s difficult to chew but I actually wasn’t checking them out. I was observing them. How each girl is so-so different than the previous one? I mean pick 100 random girls from a metro coach and each one would have a different statement to make. The beauty was mesmerizing, to say the least. So I chose to observe them, obviously – without getting noticed. The feeling was jittery, to begin with. But as I gained experience, I was calmer and cooler, and yeah – more observing.

Details to follow…