Re: [silk] Daily Commuter

["Arsalan Zaidi" <arsalan_zaidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Arsalan, Welcome to Mumbai.

Actually, you're late by 21 years or so... I was born in Mumbai... Bombay
actually. But thanks for the welcome anyhow! :-)


As I keep joking, this city is a battle between
> man and machine. And the machines are winning!
>
> Venky
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Arsalan Zaidi <azaidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: Vishal Doshi <vishal@xxxxxxxxxx>; <silk-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 9:22 PM
> Subject: [silk] Daily Commuter
>
>
> >Hi.
> >
> >I'd like to inform all concerned, that I, Arsalan Zaidi, have turned into
> >that most pathetic of all creatures; the Daily Commuter.
> >
> >Yes indeed.
> >
> >The days blend into each other and I find myself following a mind-numbing
> >routine as far as the commute goes. I come and go at a regular time. I
sit
> >in the same train and in the same compartment every day. I look at the
same
> >posters for Shah Piles Clinic (for permenant cure of Piles, Fissures and
> >Fistulas!) and Baba Bangali (Impotence? Foreign Travel? Marriage
Problems?
> >No male children? Bhoot Preth? Jadoo Tona? Come meet Baba Bangali for
cure
> >to all ailments. Jo mera jadoo katey ga, usko Rs 1000 innaam!).
> >
> >\OT
> >Now these posters are an institution in their own right. There's this
> entire
> >class of posters and ads one sees in the local trains that just can't be
> >found anywhere else. The Shah Piles Clinic and various Baba ads are the
> most
> >common, but we also have party lines (For filmi talk!), Kinleys Soda
(Zyada
> >Josh walla Soda) and Tortoise Mosquito Coils (which indulge in the most
> >insipid humour imaginable). There's also Gravity.com, which has to be the
> >weirdest name for a business ever. What's their slogan? Gravity! We pull
> you
> >down? or Gravity! Holding you back since 4,00,00,000 BC? The mind
boggles.
> >
> >Really OT. Has anyone noticed that all the ST bus stands in Maharastra
have
> >ads for 'Gaey Chaap Zarda'? These ads appear *nowhere* else and are
> >simplicity itself. Just a picture of a beady eyed, turbaned farmer with
his
> >mouth w-i-d-e open, *pouring* in the zarda and looking mighty pleased
with
> >himself; with the line Gaey Chaap Zarda written below it...
> >
> >\OT
> >
> >Anyhoo, back to the topic at hand...
> >
> >I find that my path crosses that of the same people almost every day.
I've
> >crossed the road *twice* in front of a bright red scooter ridden by the
> same
> >sari clad woman. The Bihari's I travel with in the train the day before,
I
> >find seated in front of me in the *bus* going to the station the next
day.
> >Oh yeah, the bus... For the past THREE (count them, 1 2 3) days, I have
> >ridden the exact same BEST double decker 251 bus to the station... What
are
> >the chances of that happening? :-) At the station, I find my self walking
> in
> >just as the 4:38 Andheri-CST train slinds into the station. I buy a
couple
> >of packets of peanuts/chikki/vague sweets (it's best not to investigate
the
> >origins of these too closely... I've found all kinds of surprises in the
> >chikki already. I've spat out human hair, strings, sutli, chips of wood
and
> >various other unidentified (but uniformly disgusting) objects) from the
> same
> >shop every day. I think pretty soon he'll know me by sight. It'll just be
a
> >matter of handing in the cash and picking up the goodies, no needs for
> >words.
> >
> >"the usual saab?"
> >
> >God have mercy!
> >
> >I knew a daily commute to an office would be bad, but this is
reeediculous!
> >I spend THREE (count them, 1 2 3) hours every day commuting to and from
> >work! I spend 2 hours everyday sitting jammed up 4 to a seat with the
rest
> >of the commuting crowd, with some guys crotch (or butt, take your pick)
in
> >my face. I use just about every mode of transportation known to man. I
ride
> >to the station on a bike, I take a train to Andheri, I take a bus to 4
> >bungalows and then walk 400 mts or so to the office... Throw in a horse,
a
> >screaming babe and some bad editting in there and we have a hindi movie
> >chase scene!
> >
> >I wonder what it will be like doing this for a year... two years... a
life
> >time. Can't help but shiver at the thought...
> >
> >Anyway, I'll stop ranting now...
> >
> >Back to our regularily scheduled programming...
> >
> >--Arsalan.
> >[No. I have no idea why I wrote this.
> >I think it's the after effects of the chikki.]
> >
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