Historical Blunder: I was in delhi when metro work started, the trains got inaugurated & services began. Though many people around me spent their weekends just to ‘Metro dekhne, Metro Ghoomne’, I never went. Metro spread, so did its fame. Even though I was in Bangalore I got to hear a lot about DMRC from my friends. Also reading accounts from megs, JK sir & shyam made me realize, it was a historical blunder not to have taken a ride in it. God did provide a way to correct this blunder, by way of a delhi trip intended at meeting old friends, colleagues & sponsored by flightraja & mouthshut. ;-)
Love @ first ride: Traveling by road I get my first my first glimpse of a speeding metro on its elevated track. Soon enough my tryst with it begins from Karol Bagh station. Its unlike the regular railway station by way of its cleanliness & less number of people. I go to the ticket counter ask for a token to Shahdara. The lady tells me about the route changes I need to make junctions as she hands me a token for 13Rs. I swipe the token to enter towards the flatform. I see a time display that says the next rail is to arrive in 2 minutes. Being a Saturday & noon time I see skeletal crowd. Breaking my chain of thoughts is the sound of brakes of the metro. The automated doors open. I step inside keeping the right foot first. ;-) doors shut, the train moves & I am moved too!
As we are whizzing past there is announcement about the next stop. I also see a route map above the door which is understandable with basic ability to read Hindi/English. Soon enough I reach rajiv chowk, a junction. From where change levels to head to another junction Kashmeri Gate. From there I reach shahdara. It all hardly took me 25 minutes despite me being a novice & spending time taking help from others at the junctions to find the correct flatforms. I never traveled from karolbagh to shahdara by any other modes, still I can confidently say no other way wud take me there in 25 minutes. By now I was in love with delhi metro. ;-)
Time for another orgasm: I too had experienced some road diversion, dust, traffic due to metro work. Now it all looks worth it. Once every planned route becomes a reality I am sure DMRC is going to change how ppl commute in delhi. Its another example of how technology put to work can change peoples lives. Imagine the happiness of a person who used to spend 2 hours commuting to work, now does the same in 20mins. Imagine his joy if he is spending time so saved with his family. I wondered abt the whole conception, execution, the toil that went into making of this metro. I have always watched programs on megastrucures & engineering marvels usually shown on discovery & national geographic. In one episode I recall saying newyork metro trains & drainage in paris. I would like to see a similar program on delhi metro. Considering that DMRC was planned in a city alredy congested to the seam, this is no less a engineering marvel to me. One should look at rajiv chowk, cashmere gate junctions to realize how deep the engineers have gone this to make a reality. Not having seen anything like this in India before, the metro makes u feel as if u are in foreign land. Seeing fellow Indian next to u, as passengers brings you back to reality. Thinking of the magnitude of this ongoing project, its quality service, seeing technology at work & realizing its usefulness to the society, one cant but thank god & the visionaries who made this possible. One feels happy & proud to be a Indian seeing engineering feats like this. Thinking of all these I experienced another of my intellectual orgasm. ;-)
How it works: Metro is far user friendly than other modes of public transport. One needs to travel just cpl of times to get a mental map of DMRC network & in no time you are an expert. They also do announcements like ‘get down here to go to new delhi railway station’ at important landmarks. You enter a station, head to ticket counter, say your destination, pay the amount & get a token, which has a validity of 2hours. The token when swiped opens the gate for you, at some stations after a security check. Once you reach the destination you swipe & deposit the token to open the gate & exit. If you overtravel alarm will be raised when you swipe & in such case you will have to pay the fine, unless you voluntarily go to get a extension. For the regular traveler they have passes. Since the frequency is good one doesn’t need to cry over a missed train.
Future: is only bright for DMRC. I heard they have plans to cover the whole delhi & even reach gurgaon. On March 16, I saw a news bit in TOI which carried Mr EM Sreedharan, the brain behind metro expressing his disgust over delhiites indifferent attitude towards fellow passengers, cleanliness in metro. He could only be right. Next day delhi times carried images confirming them. I also saw people rushing into metro without first even letting the ones who wanted to get down. The repeated announcements to leave seats for the aged, ladies were rarely taken by anyone. I think Mr. sreedharan will find it a lot easier to move the earth from under the terrain than to move hearts of people, for many of them are stones! Still there is hope in the form of a youth, who form a majority of travelers as I could see. If I can use a gen-x jargon ‘metro is cool ..or kewl’ ;-)
Website: DMRC has a website that gives every possible info about them including routes, schedule etc. The photogallery has a huge collection of the metro images –from making to present day. https://delhimetrorail.com
A lesson for other cities: Metro execution & operation is something other new cities can take a cue from delhi. The CNG drive was another thing. Bangalore is alredy into the act with a BMRC in place. There is opposition from certain traders who fear loss of business due to road closing in their area. But I think the govt should use iron hand to subdue it & get on with the project as its in the interest of the larger public. Our traders should also think once in a while of more worthwhile things than just their profit.
About the title: every human being by way of his/her gender is sexual. Being sexual & being in metro makes him/her metrosexual. Simple logic. ;-) … by your face I can make out that you are not convinced. But then one man’s logic is another man’s illogic, just as one mans food is another mans poison, just as one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist … I ran out examples ;-)
Thanks for reading, comments most welcome.