Watching helplessly as trains came and went, I limped on with the queue as it snail-paced towards the ticket counter. The very limits of human longanimity were being re-configured as I quietly cussed my misery. To make matters even worse, Kolkata Metro doesn’t really have air-conditioned stations anymore. The air inside was so heavy with humidity that even precipitation(read rain) seemed possible. Sweat, body odour, bad breath, stinking socks etc. immixed to a super-duper stink cock-tail, even thinking about which turns my stomach.
Another tidal wave of humanity descended upon on the rickety queue I was in and had to excuse umpteen commuters as they breached our lines and dashed towards the exit.
And then it happened! I felt a sharp pain rippling through my body, shooting up from the toes. Someone had bulldozed my feet. My renegade mouth let off the choicest of profanities like a shot. Someone stopped and took notice…
”Hey mister! watch your mouth!!!”
“Why don’t YOU watch where you step??”, I volleyed.
“It wasn’t intentional” …the voice was feminine.
<my line hobbled on> “ I’m so not convinced…my toes are crushed!!”
Our eyes met briefly but my toes pined for attention so I stooped to check the damage.and then it occurred to me…I was no longer in the queue, I was left behind. Using my innate steely will power to overcome pain and supreme agility (i was bitten by something, don’t ask we what, hence my super-powers) to scoot back to my spot as I tried to reclaim it.
“O Bhai!!! Ki Hocchhe?????” (“ what are you up to, bro??” in bengali with a pinch of animosity) , a collective protest went up in unison. I asked the man trailing me in that queue to let me in but that amnesiac(the very short term variant) bastard asked me to fall in line! “This isn’t happening to me”, I murmured. Someone tapped my shoulders and asked “Where is it you wanna go?”
“New Garia! but why do you care?”I asked, a bit surprised why she was still around…uttering nothing, she walked away, couldn’t tell where. I went back to the squabble with that sicko. When words became ineffective,I tried to push in as the counter was quite near. He resisted constantly fending me off but I didn’t relent. We took our tussle right up to the ticket counter where the ticket guy vexed by our immaturity asked a cop on duty to pluck both of us out of the line.
That plonker short-fused and lunged forward to get my neck…i ducked but I couldn’t get away…both of us got tangled in the next incoming wave of the commuters…he caught hold of my shirt. A fight seemed inevitable even though i was desperately trying to avoid one (for reasons best known to me). Fortunately, the cop intervened and whisked that man away ( maybe to hammer some sense into him). I wasn’t concerned where he went cuz I had to get back to any queue which would lead me to a coveted ticket.
Willy-Nilly, I scanned the options and picked one of the shorter queues.
Another tapping on my shoulder. “Now What?”, I swung around.
“Here’s your ticket.”
It was her…and she had a “3 zones 1 passenger” ticket( New Garia) in her hand.
“Why?…..”, I uttered.
“You are in this shit partly because of me being unmindful of my stepping” she had a simper on her face. Damn! that dame looked damn cute .
“Okay, but how did you…”, I was motioned by her to shut up…”It helps to be a girl…I asked this gent at that counter over there and he got this ticket for me”.
I reached for my purse to fish out the fare but…”Don’t you dare give me those 8 bucks, your ticket is on me as a "penance" for trampling your toes and the mess!!”, she said.
I felt a sudden urge to ask her name (and of course, her number) and opened my mouth but had to zip it up immediately.
“Mister, just because of what I did for you, don’t start getting ideas,okay?” Omigosh! Did she read my mind?? Maybe bec…”I’m XYZ by the way, ABC college”. I was zapped & speechless. “I guess you can figure out the rest. Bye!”and she headed for the exit.
Numbly, I took the stairs down to the platform to catch my ride home pensively attempting to appraise myself with what all had transpired in the past 2400 seconds.
I found myself standing in a train speeding towards New Garia, amidst a bone-crushing crowd, painting a very rosy picture for myself.
Another tidal wave of humanity descended upon on the rickety queue I was in and had to excuse umpteen commuters as they breached our lines and dashed towards the exit.
And then it happened! I felt a sharp pain rippling through my body, shooting up from the toes. Someone had bulldozed my feet. My renegade mouth let off the choicest of profanities like a shot. Someone stopped and took notice…
”Hey mister! watch your mouth!!!”
“Why don’t YOU watch where you step??”, I volleyed.
“It wasn’t intentional” …the voice was feminine.
<my line hobbled on> “ I’m so not convinced…my toes are crushed!!”
Our eyes met briefly but my toes pined for attention so I stooped to check the damage.and then it occurred to me…I was no longer in the queue, I was left behind. Using my innate steely will power to overcome pain and supreme agility (i was bitten by something, don’t ask we what, hence my super-powers) to scoot back to my spot as I tried to reclaim it.
“O Bhai!!! Ki Hocchhe?????” (“ what are you up to, bro??” in bengali with a pinch of animosity) , a collective protest went up in unison. I asked the man trailing me in that queue to let me in but that amnesiac(the very short term variant) bastard asked me to fall in line! “This isn’t happening to me”, I murmured. Someone tapped my shoulders and asked “Where is it you wanna go?”
“New Garia! but why do you care?”I asked, a bit surprised why she was still around…uttering nothing, she walked away, couldn’t tell where. I went back to the squabble with that sicko. When words became ineffective,I tried to push in as the counter was quite near. He resisted constantly fending me off but I didn’t relent. We took our tussle right up to the ticket counter where the ticket guy vexed by our immaturity asked a cop on duty to pluck both of us out of the line.
That plonker short-fused and lunged forward to get my neck…i ducked but I couldn’t get away…both of us got tangled in the next incoming wave of the commuters…he caught hold of my shirt. A fight seemed inevitable even though i was desperately trying to avoid one (for reasons best known to me). Fortunately, the cop intervened and whisked that man away ( maybe to hammer some sense into him). I wasn’t concerned where he went cuz I had to get back to any queue which would lead me to a coveted ticket.
Willy-Nilly, I scanned the options and picked one of the shorter queues.
Another tapping on my shoulder. “Now What?”, I swung around.
“Here’s your ticket.”
It was her…and she had a “3 zones 1 passenger” ticket( New Garia) in her hand.
“Why?…..”, I uttered.
“You are in this shit partly because of me being unmindful of my stepping” she had a simper on her face. Damn! that dame looked damn cute .
“Okay, but how did you…”, I was motioned by her to shut up…”It helps to be a girl…I asked this gent at that counter over there and he got this ticket for me”.
I reached for my purse to fish out the fare but…”Don’t you dare give me those 8 bucks, your ticket is on me as a "penance" for trampling your toes and the mess!!”, she said.
I felt a sudden urge to ask her name (and of course, her number) and opened my mouth but had to zip it up immediately.
“Mister, just because of what I did for you, don’t start getting ideas,okay?” Omigosh! Did she read my mind?? Maybe bec…”I’m XYZ by the way, ABC college”. I was zapped & speechless. “I guess you can figure out the rest. Bye!”and she headed for the exit.
Numbly, I took the stairs down to the platform to catch my ride home pensively attempting to appraise myself with what all had transpired in the past 2400 seconds.
I found myself standing in a train speeding towards New Garia, amidst a bone-crushing crowd, painting a very rosy picture for myself.
