Tuesday, June 29, 2010

metro

he was streaming on with the moving train. the metro would resume moving and it was his provocation, the whistle to a sprinter; he gushes along amongst the cheers of the crowd to fill in the metro with his hex and spell.
he was black, like little michael jackson, gimmicks and capers that make him! 
 
Madras, febr 2010, i had arrived with hordes of hope.Among many hopeful beings, i too had been summoned with a chance by the firm that now enjoys being the official software partners of the beautiful game.
A redemption from an acme of solitude is beautiful. It is much more with the single dish meals and the citadel of dreams on someone else' blankets. I had nothing but two meaningful friends there and a few caring seniors. That was the promise as i stepped out of the old madras railway station to the subways of Chennai.


'Captain' called me, he was addressed so at the hostel, short simple solicitous Captain! Before landing in Chennai, he worked for Nilekani's UID project; he used to ramble, collecting details of people for a few paise per each person. I was guided to board the metro from park town station and get down at indiranagar. I proceeded through the tamil tips to park town as thrill was running down the spine. The frisson of goin to see and experience a metro train ruled me than the job offer or the eagerness to meet thampan and captain.



 !!!...all my fantasies were brutally ruled out. Park town looked like a normal suburban station, good!the ticket was cheap, but still uncreative. I stood for a while and then it was a trance as i got grabbed in to the bogie of the ordinary electric unit that stopped for a while and fled.   
Days later I realised that it wasn't metro, but the elevated rail called MRTS, with colossal stations and wasted spaces . But still, this train is an unpompous meloncholous metro!


The 'metro' had impoverished interiors as if railways had recycled, the compartments anterior to independence. I was happy though i had lost an affluent experience. But this was good. The train was elevating over the city. I viewed marina beach and the gathering flocks from a rare camera angle. The metro would stop, as a singer would pause on a breathless note, only to move on with  more. 


The stations were placed gracefully, and the boy was streaming on with the moving train! With leaping movements and leaking nose, he entertained his gang, his crowds. He would step down at each station, and as the metro speeds up, amongst the bravos of the street boys, he would run along and within seconds swing on the iron bars with the smile of a champion. This kept happening. Each station was a deja vu. May be his hearbeat was synonymous with the rythm of the train. 


the real city was being unveiled below, the reusable flats made from hay and sheets, the black and brown lake, which contained almost anything, things left untasted by soil, seeped in to the residents. They were unconcerned, as were their boys who got themselves entertained on the metro above. 


A man with a big moustache entered in. He was restless and checked the presence of his belongings again and again. The boy kept challenging the metro and came in swinging like a feather. His dangerous adventure or effortless heroism, anyway the man got provoked, he rolled his eyes and yelled at him..aaaaye!!ennada!


the boy was smiling and returned a coded answer; he poked in to his nose and took out a bit of dried mucus, tipped it off like the last bit of cigar..'don ko pakadna namumkin! 


The man silently stepped out at the next station and the boy...he had disappeared. His gang was silenced and looked terrified.
He din't bequeth, the metro had surrendered to him, completely...

5 comments:

Stolen Ideas said...

started blogging????????

first comment ente vaka

njan motham onnum vayichilla(baki pinne vayikkam)
enthyalum vayichidatholam kollam....

keep on writing
kuraye aakumbol namukk oru posthakam erakkam....(like chethan baghat)... hihihihi

shabin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
shabin said...

Avasaanam puliyum thodangi...!!! ini ivide enthenkilumokke nadakkum...
zeel,zest,zing,xing,pling.....

Keep on going comrade...Hasta la victoria siempre...

Unknown said...

Good one, Nithin. Still can't figure out how you became a comrade, though.

tryingtowrite said...

How long till the next post?