Namma Metro
I’m new to the ambitious city — Bengaluru, having arrived just four months ago. Life here is full of rush and traffic and moves slowly. One thing that intrigues me is how people here don't let traffic, time, or distance stop them. They always move. Slowly, but they move. Thanks to the ‘Bangalore Metro’ to make that movement a bit smoother and faster. Do you know how far it is to reach the city center of Majestic? (If any Bangalorean is reading this, FYI, I stay in Kengeri.) It’s around 40 minutes away. So, what’s surprising or new in this? Bangalore is a place where distance is measured in time. If you are wondering about the “kilometers (or miles) answer”, forget about it! Yes, distance and time aren’t proportional here, no matter what’s your speed! This concept was very new to me. If you are aboard a Purple Line metro then you can reach the Kengeri to Majestic in approx. 25 minutes (That’s comparatively fast). For most of us new Bangaloreans, Namma Metro is a lifesaver.
The travel via the Bengaluru metro is both joyful and intensified. It is accessible yet contained because of the city’s huge crowd. I live in the third most populous city in the country (accounting for 15% of Karnataka’s population). Almost half of Bengaluru’s population are migrants. So, you can imagine how essential public transport and metro services are in the city and also how crowded they will be every time. Leaving all the statistical information at its place, let’s talk of Namma Metro and the first journey I had here as a ‘Bengaluriga’. The journey starts right from the ticket purchase and your ups and downs in those continuously moving, always crowded escalators. Now, you are finally (and hopefully) at your designated platform and soon that announcer starts singing (No, she doesn’t sing!). The metro I caught was peacefully less crowded and honestly, I thought that’s how it always is!!!
I was sitting comfortably with my earphones plugged in, listening to some soothing music. Soon the doors closed with the beep beep sound and the metro started its journey. The glassed mirrors reflecting my image started to move along with it. I started to look at those images and slowly slipped into them.
Anjan dariya me
Ek Naiyya dikha hai
Dekha nahi Maine kabhi
Vaisa Maya dikha hai
Andhere raah me
Ek Chaya dikha hai
Anokha hai, Adhura bhi
Aisa ek Kaya dikha hai
Ansune khwab me
Jo Paraya laga hai
Kareeb se dekhu to
Apna hi Saya dikha hai
I was looking at my reflections and thinking deeply about how less we are connected to this world and yet how near our eyes make us perceive it. The metro started moving forward, leaving ever-moving backgrounds like — clouds, trees, buildings, and the sky behind. All those relative backgrounds are blending with me and I’m just looking at them. It is as if they all are passing through me using my reflection. The music in my ears made me lose track of my surroundings. I was sitting in a man-made object and was feeling the beauty of nature and physics. The only thing that physically separated me and the cosmos was that mere thin glass window. While the windows of the mind, my Eyes, ignored that physical barrier, I was lost in the reflections… to be never found again!
ಛಂದ ಐತಿ ನೋಡ್ರಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು
ದಿನಾ ಮಂದಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೂರಾರು,
ಮೆಟ್ರೋ ಹತ್ತಿ ಹೊಂಟಾರು
ಎಲ್ಲಾರು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಬಂದಾರ ತಮ್ಮೂರು
