People

These days whenever I travel by trains, I really don't have much to do - no papers to read, no music to listen to (thanks to my cell sans its display - which resembles a landline now - just can call and pickup calls..zero display :P)
So I don't have much choice to pass the time - except stare, and stare some more at the people in the train...and this post is the result of all the staring and "people-studying" I have lately indulged in...
Not a character sketch or something, just an outline of the various people I came across...
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A lady who sells khaman dhokla and sev papdi. I had previously written about her here I just love it when I get to see her in the compartment..although I still haven't bought anything from her...
She makes me super nostalgic somehow...

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A vegetable vendor cursing her 3 yr old daughter and blaming her for nearly everything under the sun - from the crowd in the train to the fact that the vegetables were rotting for lack of customers.

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A blind couple who boarded the same train as mine and supported each other throughout the chaos on the platform and journeyed together - every single day.

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A lady who used to be in my train when I went to VESIT and used to ask me where I had been, every time I resumed college after the vacations...

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A lady who had her head covered with her pallu - only to reveal her 70 earrings - (35 per ear! - and I am not kidding!!) to the bewildered people seated beside her..
and went on to tell them about her entry in the Limca book of records.

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A group of collegians doing last minute train revision, through notes heavily underlined in ink of various colours,and an old lady advising them on how they better use pencils for marking the notes...

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A lady when troubled by a road-romeo, hurling abuses at him and threatening to call the police fearlessly. (We don't see many of these even though we claim on being fearless and liberal!)

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A lady selling ayurvedic powders and facepacks.Never missing a word out of the mugged up advertisement of her products and relentlessly goes into the detailed benefits of each of the products. I almost know her entire ad by heart after listening to it 8-9 times now!

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Different people different tastes,languages, religions - yet all of them have something in common - they all have dreams, aspirations, fears, grudges, tensions, payments to be made, taxes to be paid, and loved ones eagerly waiting for them to reach home - which makes them the same as you and me...

PS: Wanted to title it "We The People", but restrained myself from copying titles again! :P

The perfect seat

She badly wanted to attend the concert...it was the performance of her favorite singer and she didn't want to miss it for anything in the world.
She attended the program before the concert to ensure that she had the best seat...She was ready to spend an entire hour listening to some political honcho ranting about the opposition party just to make sure she didn't miss the chance to listen to her favorite singer - which was the program just after the political honcho's speech.
As luck would have it, she entered and found a seat!!
At first she was happy...happy that she had managed to secure a seat directly in view of the podium...so what if it was the last row? It didn't matter as long as she was able to "see" her favorite icon...
Then slowly as she settled down, she noticed many of her friends who were seated in 4th or 5th rows...and she started feeling queasy..."I should have come earlier..I should have asked them to book a seat for me..." and she started to look out for a better seat in the front rows..
The political honcho was in the middle of his speech and she prayed that at least some of the people gathered there may leave after he had finished (although she knew that they all had come for the singer's concert) and make room in the front rows..
Suddenly, a few people got up from their seats...her heart skipped a beat...her prayers might have been answered!! But alas! they had just gotten up for a break and their belongings safely declared that the seats were still occupied...
Finally, after much craning around to spot "just one seat", one guy got up..she almost ran there, stumbling along and managed to grab the seat. Finally!!! she had managed to secure an "almost front row seat"!!!As she looked around gloating at her conquest...her heart sank again....She realized that she had gotten the seat just behind the place where the cameraman would stand...making it next to impossible for her to see the stage...and she again embarked upon the conquest of a "perfect seat"....

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Why does it always have to be somewhere else that is more happening, more intriguing and more inviting than where you actually are?
Why is the grass always greener on the other side even if you know the water bill is going to be high too? (Ok...i dhapofied this from some status line! But it does sum up the emotion very well) Why are we always in the "pursuit" of happiness?
Why is satisfaction always eluding ? Why is there always "that one thing" which will make you happy? Even if you manage to get it, why is there suddenly "just one more thing" which you badly, truly, really want before you'll be happy again?
Why???


PS: A series of events have happened...making me rave and rant on the blog...Hopefully the next post will be more entertaining..Pardon moi for this outburst! :-)
PPS: Another of my posts having an anonymous person..promise that the next post's subject will have a proper "name" :-)