'Time Is Money' is said to be the motto of the city of Mumbai. We Mumbaikars are always running, whether we have watches strapped to our wrists or not. The funny thing is that we curse it and seem to enjoy it at the same time. And the sad part is that it leaves us with almost no time to bother about what is going on around us.
I was sadly reminded of the same because of two incidents last week. I can never be counted among the fans of the fiasco called 'Local Trains'. But there is no denying the fact that they save you a lot of time, if they are running on time. So there I was waiting at the station, thinking about thousand things and craning my neck every now and then to check if the next train was rolling in. Somewhere close to me I could hear a person telling an old woman he was with that the trains were running late and they won't be able to get into any because of the crowd.
Then suddenly the same person said 'Excuse me madam, can you please explain to her in Marathi what I am saying. I don't think she can understand Hindi'. At first, I wasn't sure he was talking to me. But he was. He repeated what he was saying and then added that he would get her into a rickshaw just outside the station and would pay the fare himself. I told the same to the old woman in Marathi. She nodded her head. But before the guy could guide her out she sat where she was standing. Maybe they had been standing since quite some time and she was tired. I didn't have much time to dwell on it because the train rolled in just then and I hurried to get into it. But as the train pulled away I wondered about those people. Who were they? Were they related to each other? Where were they going? Why? Alas! The questions would remain without answers forever.
Anyways, I was hurrying down homewards and as usual it started raining. Cursing my luck, I opened the umbrella and taking care to avoid the puddles as much as I could, resumed walking. As I concentrated on putting one foot in front of another I barely noticed the old man who was standing near a particularly high section of the pavement. It was only when a young boy who was following me took his hand and helped him onto the pavement that I realized that he needed someone to help him up. A pang of guilt rose within me but sadly this isn't the first time nor would this be the last. :-(
Sometimes I am afraid that this city is taking more from me than I am willing to give :-(
I was sadly reminded of the same because of two incidents last week. I can never be counted among the fans of the fiasco called 'Local Trains'. But there is no denying the fact that they save you a lot of time, if they are running on time. So there I was waiting at the station, thinking about thousand things and craning my neck every now and then to check if the next train was rolling in. Somewhere close to me I could hear a person telling an old woman he was with that the trains were running late and they won't be able to get into any because of the crowd.
Then suddenly the same person said 'Excuse me madam, can you please explain to her in Marathi what I am saying. I don't think she can understand Hindi'. At first, I wasn't sure he was talking to me. But he was. He repeated what he was saying and then added that he would get her into a rickshaw just outside the station and would pay the fare himself. I told the same to the old woman in Marathi. She nodded her head. But before the guy could guide her out she sat where she was standing. Maybe they had been standing since quite some time and she was tired. I didn't have much time to dwell on it because the train rolled in just then and I hurried to get into it. But as the train pulled away I wondered about those people. Who were they? Were they related to each other? Where were they going? Why? Alas! The questions would remain without answers forever.
Anyways, I was hurrying down homewards and as usual it started raining. Cursing my luck, I opened the umbrella and taking care to avoid the puddles as much as I could, resumed walking. As I concentrated on putting one foot in front of another I barely noticed the old man who was standing near a particularly high section of the pavement. It was only when a young boy who was following me took his hand and helped him onto the pavement that I realized that he needed someone to help him up. A pang of guilt rose within me but sadly this isn't the first time nor would this be the last. :-(
Sometimes I am afraid that this city is taking more from me than I am willing to give :-(
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment