Bystander – the muser’s mouth piece

The railway platform has a unique lawlessness of its own. The general public, that is unreserved to the elite - First AC class passengers, are joined by the station staff in creating chaos.

Here, each would vie with one another to place an obstacle in the walking space. Squatting in a huddle, lying down surrounded by number of luggage pieces, creating bottlenecks by standing in front of the Arrival/Departure display (or) mesmerized by the commercials.

The least heard (or) having the least clarity will be the station announcements. This, if audible, leaves one with a feeling that the announcer might be in a rush to catch a train.

The state of chaos worsens, when the train pulls in to the platform.

As though reading his mind, a bystander said out loud that, he wondered why the luggage van could not be attached at the rear of the rake (or) why the staff should choose the same side of the platform to haphazardly unload the parcel items, occupying the limited space available for the passengers to reach the exit. God forbid, in an emergency none could escape to the exit.

The reserved ticket holders fight to get in, even before the occupants who have completed their journey, have a chance to come out. The turmoil to get in to unreserved compartments is like getting stampeded in kumbh mela crowd.

The bystander vowed to reserve 50% of coaches in trains for unreserved passengers, if he ever became the Railway Minister

The bystander felt, the number of luggage pieces carried by the passengers was a goldmine waiting to be tapped- if the he ever becomes a minister for Railways (or) Finance minister. He was mentally coining a catchy slogan for exhorting the passengers “Shun excess weight, keep Indian Railways lean”.

Indian Railways is truly a unifying force –Books, bikes, boxes, perishables & odorous goods are transported along with human passengers. Who is concerned about the Mal-odor?

Philosophically speaking, are you not aware of the stench greeting all of us, as the train enters in to any railway station serving greater (or) minor Municipal Corporation? Then why the hue & cry about the same inside the railway station (or) in the coach?

Yes, this reminded us that the hygiene in the compartments need focused attention of  a few ministries to start with- Water, Power, Health, Food & Agriculture and of course the active  Minister of Railways.

The bystander made a mental note to involve the Human Resources Development ministry to try and educate the passengers, once the other ministries completed had their tasks.

The more the Muser thought about these things during his journeys, more and more did he become agitated. He had to make three or four journeys in a particular month. Every journey added that extra bit to the already agitated mind and finally tipped the scale.

Dictated by the bio-clock, the muser went to bed. A cauldron of agitating thoughts made him weary and sleep eluded him. Late in the night, from deep sleep, he started to shout and pleaded with the bystander to do something positive. - When, he becomes a minister.

This blood curdling whelp woke up the family members in annoyance. In unison they told him to shut up. This cavalier treatment stung him and the only he realized it was all a dream.  Annoyed getting disturbed from their cozy sleep, they rebuked him and advised to go back to sleep.

Then the realization struck him. The bystander was his own creation!