How often do we secure a corner seat of a bus or a metro or a local train while commuting ? Many a times we indulge in self conversation perhaps ignoring what the journey has to unfold in transit .
I recollect one such train journey . Some where in 1995 I happened to catch a mail train from Borivali to Ankaleshwar ( Gujarat ). The train was full . It was rush hour and most of the co passengers were returning home on the western suburban route on this mail train .
As far as I was concerned it was a last minute travel plan . I did not have a reservation ticket so could not enter a decent reserved 2 tier compartment . I had no choice but to go for the General Compartment . While standing in queue at door , I was shoved inside by eager commuters standing behind me . The lucky ones who had already managed to alight earlier , resisted our entry and offered a counter force to abstain us from entering . Some how I managed to squeeze myself in and after about 45 minutes of persistent efforts , managed to slide myself in the pathway , standing on a foot . Now I understand why they call it a foot hold . Needless to say the journey seemed eternal and arduous .
The mail train periodically halted at suburban stations but hardly could any one alight the jam packed General compartment . This time I cooperated with my fellow passengers in offering resistance to aspiring travelers from getting an entry into our compartment . This is called a " Local Train Psychology " . Prior to alighting I was fighting against this resistance and now that I was inside the train , I cooperated to offer resistance .
There were variety of fellow commuters . From mothers carrying babies , to the aged . The compartment was filled with people of all age groups . People chatted along the way , babies howled on their mother's lap , while the solitary travelers like me , deeply engrossed in a monologue . Me in specific , cursed myself for choosing to board the General Compartment !
In all this commotion some where down the pathway I heard an anxious lady shouting "સુ સુ આવેચે (su su aweche or the baby is going to relieve himself )" ! Before I could compose myself , the person adjacent to me passed a toddler repeating impatiently " સુ સુ આવેચે (su su aweche ) " . Without thought , I took the live parcel and passed the buck to the person next to me in the direction of the loo repeating the magic words . The whole chain was so spontaneous and synchronous that soon the toddler was thrust in to the loo .
After some time we all passed the baby back in the same manner to the anxious mother . To every body's relief the baby did not sprinkle in transit . For all of us in the chain the parcel was like a water bomb which could have burst , had we not cooperated .
By the end of the event the mood in our compartment was more relaxed and jovial . For some of us it helped to break the ice . No wonder after this incidence the journey though tedious , seemed to pass quickly and bearable .
What amazed me was the confidence with which the mother started this chain . She could not carry the baby to the loo but imposed full faith in the spirit of cooperation .
As far as the toddler was concerned , only God knows if it relieved himself inside the loo !
Long live Cooperative Movement !
More General the surrounding more Exceptional the story.
Have you ever experienced one ??? I am eager to know your story .
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