I’m standing in a big queue at the ticket counter in one of the moderately busy railway stations of the country. Mine is the shortest queue among the 3 long zigzag ones, spanning across the entire room and then extending to the outside. Standing here for almost half an hour, it’s nice; the world around me seems to look better when I’m here, bored, irritated and helpless.
It’s nice to note that I’ll be standing in this queue for more time than I would need to travel to my destination. It’s even nice to note that the guy behind me would have reached his destination 15 minutes back if he chose to travel by bus.
It’s nice when you realize that you have nothing else to do but stand there endlessly behind the tall obese man who keeps swaying left and right to relieve his calf off his 100 kg weight, one at a time.
It’s nice when you realize the man behind you is trying his best to go forward even though the queue is stand still. When you move slightly to the left or right, he promptly fills the small gap you left, hoping to move an inch forward. Human instincts I should say.
It’s nice to see a man acting drained out and asking the guy in the front of the line to help him buy an extra ticket. It’s even nice when you see his request being rejected he trying his luck with another man in the queue.
It’s nice to listen to the soft humming music of the metro. Every now and then, you could hear somebody clapping to the tunes. It’s even nice to see people scratching their legs after the musician has had its blood meal.
It’s nice to see the group of guys in the parallel queue trying to attract attention of the pretty girl in tights and tank top. It’s even nice to see her blush and act irritated at the same time. But then she was a good looking girl, so you can’t blame the guys as well.
It’s nice to see a guy well ahead of me make funny faces at the kid lying peacefully on its mother’s shoulder. It’s even nice to see the mother stare at the guy irritated, when child let out a loud cry pointing at the monster face.
It’s nice to see those ladies fighting at the counter for a separate queue. It’s even nice to see them get directed to a sign board which says, “no separate queue for ladies”. But they would not bother to read it nor accept it. It’s their birth right to argue.
It’s nice to see the guy in the next queue repine about the inefficiency of the railway authorities. It’s even nice to see him lose his temper after a while and end up using those unfamiliar words that I have heard did exist.
It’s nice to see a ticket vendor instruct the guy at the front to check up some info with the information centre and return to buy his ticket. It’s even nice to see him hunt for the information centre which is in the other building 5 minutes walk from here. God alone knows the length of the queue there. Hope he will not have to stand at the back of this queue when he returns.
It’s nice to see a girl flirting with someone over the phone. It’s even nice to see her look around, make sure she is not noticed, and cover her mouth along with the cell phone using her left hand for something highly confidential. Is the guy on the other end also in a queue?
It’s nice to see a queue split into two as soon as a new counter is opened. It’s even nice to see them return when the vendor declares it a queue for disabled.
It’s nice to see the queue move faster. It’s even nice to see the man at the counter pull down the board that read “tea break”. They’ve got to have their tea on time even if the people who pay for it are waiting outside empty stomach. That’s democraZy.
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It’s nice to note that I’ll be standing in this queue for more time than I would need to travel to my destination. It’s even nice to note that the guy behind me would have reached his destination 15 minutes back if he chose to travel by bus.
It’s nice when you realize that you have nothing else to do but stand there endlessly behind the tall obese man who keeps swaying left and right to relieve his calf off his 100 kg weight, one at a time.
It’s nice when you realize the man behind you is trying his best to go forward even though the queue is stand still. When you move slightly to the left or right, he promptly fills the small gap you left, hoping to move an inch forward. Human instincts I should say.
It’s nice to see a man acting drained out and asking the guy in the front of the line to help him buy an extra ticket. It’s even nice when you see his request being rejected he trying his luck with another man in the queue.
It’s nice to listen to the soft humming music of the metro. Every now and then, you could hear somebody clapping to the tunes. It’s even nice to see people scratching their legs after the musician has had its blood meal.
It’s nice to see the group of guys in the parallel queue trying to attract attention of the pretty girl in tights and tank top. It’s even nice to see her blush and act irritated at the same time. But then she was a good looking girl, so you can’t blame the guys as well.
It’s nice to see those ladies fighting at the counter for a separate queue. It’s even nice to see them get directed to a sign board which says, “no separate queue for ladies”. But they would not bother to read it nor accept it. It’s their birth right to argue.
It’s nice to see the guy in the next queue repine about the inefficiency of the railway authorities. It’s even nice to see him lose his temper after a while and end up using those unfamiliar words that I have heard did exist.
It’s nice to see a ticket vendor instruct the guy at the front to check up some info with the information centre and return to buy his ticket. It’s even nice to see him hunt for the information centre which is in the other building 5 minutes walk from here. God alone knows the length of the queue there. Hope he will not have to stand at the back of this queue when he returns.
It’s nice to see a girl flirting with someone over the phone. It’s even nice to see her look around, make sure she is not noticed, and cover her mouth along with the cell phone using her left hand for something highly confidential. Is the guy on the other end also in a queue?
It’s nice to see a queue split into two as soon as a new counter is opened. It’s even nice to see them return when the vendor declares it a queue for disabled.
It’s nice to see the queue move faster. It’s even nice to see the man at the counter pull down the board that read “tea break”. They’ve got to have their tea on time even if the people who pay for it are waiting outside empty stomach. That’s democraZy.
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1. Democracy to Demo"craZy" and then to "DemoNcraZy"
LOL!! All points are EPIC!!!!! Loved reading them..
ReplyDelete"act irritated??" some may not agree.... :P
Awesome post! Enjoyed till the last word of it. Great work, I can picture all the above points in front of my eyes. Beautifully jotted down. "Girl flirting over the phone, ticket vendor instructing a guy, guys trying to entice a pretty girl " .. etc Agree with all your points :)
ReplyDeletehe he...Loved it... :)
ReplyDelete@Sahana Rao~ Thank you. Yup the girl acted irritated though it was so evident on her face the she loved being noticed.
ReplyDelete@ Aakash ~ thanks. it was so much fun. should have been there with me. you would have enjoyed it more.
ReplyDelete@ divya ranjith ~ thank you. glad you liked it.
ReplyDeleteYou have captured it all. But I am curious.... What is a medical tutor and doctor who is so web savvy doing in a railway counter? Wasn't irctc.co.in good enough? :)
ReplyDeleteJust the idea of standing like that for all that time .. I was thanking god that I didn't have to go through that! :)
ReplyDelete@ Arun Kumar~ Thanks Arun. They don't let us book tickets on the day of travel rite?
ReplyDelete@ sunil deepak~ True sunil. But was a lot fun too.
ReplyDeleteKeen Observation. I had tackeled this issue in a different way some time ago. Loved to read your post.
ReplyDeleteWait - Mein Qatar mein Hoon!
Wonderful observations, and nicely portrayed. What I liked the most was the fact that you were able to see that it was nice, when many would have been annoyed and irritated instead. Great point of view.
ReplyDelete@Ranting Indian~ Thank you and glad you liked the post.
ReplyDelete@Subhorup Dasgupta~ Thank you. That was encouraging.
ReplyDeleteFantastic observation. Or imagination. Which ever it is... its is definitely entertaining! :)
ReplyDeleteYour points made me feel like I was also part of the queue :P That's how it's in India...They can close the counter anytime calling it tea break because there is no particular time described to have tea in India...Govt offices- and that's where you'll find pure democraZy :P
ReplyDelete@Cna~ thank you. glad you found it entertaining.
ReplyDelete@Gargi Gupta~ yes. anytime is tea time for them. thank you.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know that good writing happens on Indian blogs.. it's even nicer to have found yours.. very refreshing read.. cheers!
ReplyDelete@what ho! Thank you what ho!.. Welcome here and I am glad you like them... cheers!
ReplyDeleteGreat efforts
ReplyDeleteDemoCRAZY... yes..whole democracy in a man..and I am part of it.. we each part of it... so aware when feed your own stomach there are so many who are need as like as we are... on the time.. and that awareness require every democrat.. not?
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see that you've taken all irritating happenings in a humorous way and wrote them in your post ! It's even nice to see that I'd the opportunity to read this post ! :)
ReplyDeleteGood observation and nice description ! :)