4th Sept, another day in the life of a delhite, another day of traffic jams, another day of rains and water logging. but today it was a bit different, people today were alighting the new metro . The metro had laid its feet on the Qutub –central secretariate roads. The new metro stations, still unfinished though, looked as swanky, as hi-tech as any station in the world.
I boarded the train from Hauz khas. To my surprise the station had a good crowd. I was hoping to experience it all alone but then we are a nation of 1.1billion people. The train took off with warnings “there is a slight delay , we are sorry for the inconvenience”. Nonetheless it was metro , we know we reach in time even if there is a delay.
Sitting inside, the first thing to feel is the brightness in the eyes of the people. It’s evident on the faces of fellow travellers, how proud they feel of their metro. The glare in there eyes when they use metro is an experience in itself. Boys were checking it out with bigger eyes then they check out girls (and vice versa) , men were enjoying it more then they enjoy their expensive cars, and seniors were relishing it more then there morning walks in a green garden, Ladies were having a time of their life, discussing how they have never been to gurgaon, but now it s a stone throws away. A tea stall walla outside station was happy. In his words “ aaj raunak bhad gayee hain yahan”
With CS-Badarpur line opening soon, we hope that DMRC will complete its first chapter in the history of Delhi. They have laid the foundation to make delhi an international city.( Our Metro is perhaps the only thing to show-off as far as “International “ is concerned.)
Take some time out to thank Mr. E Sreedharan and his team , who have once again proven themselves, who have shown that given the right leaders and right minds, anything is possible. Saying this We should thank our dear government too for not giving these metro projects to people of CWG committee’s caliber, or my great grandson would have been deprived of the metro, leave alone me.
Indeed travelling by metro is a wonderful experience. I have the luxury of having a metro station just about 200m from my home. and i say it is wonderful. They have maintened what they promised, they have delivered what we asked. Absolutely fantastic. Everything is so neat and clean.
ReplyDeleteand yeah you are right about people being proud of it... i have seen it how people try there best not to litter / spit or spoil the stations, and if anyone does, he is either caught or scolded by others.
you have written it really well, especially the glare... even i have seen it.. even i have felt it in my eye.
Kudos to DMRC.. cheers!!
i agree that 1 boon CWG has given us is the connectivity. Now no more those stinky, overcrowded buses who run at a snails speed. However my only concern is in how much time will our metro trains turn into stinky,overcrowded locals like Bombay. already there is constant complains about the over stuffed compartments and demand to add more coaches or double the frequency of these trains, has increased tremendously.
ReplyDeleteThe technical snags that metro develops these days are a matter of concern as well. although these are part and parcel of engineering science. But then you have to give some respect to them as well... considering such a hughe ridership .
ReplyDeleteDelhi is much better then what mumbai and kolkatta have as afar as public transport is concerned.
karnika you are right about the overcrowded metros, but i guess you shld see the condition in mumbai or maybe china.
I am using it now to go to gurgaon... its damn crowded already and snags as well. takes around an hour from my house in north delhi.
ReplyDeleteI liked ur write up dude.. GJ !!