life in the metro
in all my sickness, i completely forgot - i finally had the brilliant luck to travel in dilli's pride - the metro. last sunday was the ncr meet for new_stanford_studs (yeah, that's what they're called) and i went along with a. the meet was at 5, and since there didn't seem to be enough time to go and return, i almost resisted. thanks to a's persistence though, i got my first ride on the metro (cp->chandni chowk->cp). thank you, a!
i am amazed as hell. the metro absolutely, without question, rocks. i was reminded of the bart as i got on board. admittedly, lines (of people, not trains) are not as orderly, but that's a pan-delhi problem, we can leave it aside for now. it was heaven to be inside the train station, and the train, because the ac blasted cold air on you (in form of respite from the sweltering heat outdoors), and the surroundings were blindingly clean. i like the token system too - you pay at the counter for a token, and when you get out, the exit gate eats up the token. no trash generated, it's wonderful. the security was stiff, since the metro is perennially under threat (understandably). unfortunately, this also meant i couldn't take any pictures in metro premises. that wasn't so cool. i wasn't happy to lose the token either, could have kept it as a memoir. all in all though, i was pleased.
pleased, also because i got to see chandni chowk for the first time. i'd been to red fort by car, but that was 16 years ago. and it was straight to the red fort. although the market was closed (sunday), it was an odd (good-odd) feeling to be in a place of such historic value. i was reminded of 1947 earth, and wondered about the plight and plunder of these surroundings 60 years ago.
we walked around for a while. it must be over a km, in not-so-kind weather conditions. i was also a tad conscious about the attention my camera would grab, and didn't take it out once. a must have wondered what kind of photography enthusiast i was. not a very brave one, that's for sure! i was warned by a photographer friend once, that one should be careful in india - where people can rob cameras off you, forget steal (i remember trying to process the difference first :)). i don't like to think those things about my country, but i also don't want to risk losing my camera to prove my patriotism. hence, no shots of chandni chowk (there really wasn't much to take on a holiday anyway, to tell the truth). i did take some of the metro station though, when we finally got back to it. there weren't too many people around, so i felt brave. it was also the now or never factor that did it.
tgif (where we all met) was interesting. i met 9/10 new stanford students, eager to get to stanford and get started. i do remember their names, surprisingly. though i needed two rounds of introduction to be honest. (at least i was honest though :). i wonder how many of them remember my name!) one of them had worked in ms for 7 months, and hated it with a passion. i was forced to defend the truth, and let everyone know that ms was, in fact, a good company to work for. the conversation went on for a while longer, with him complaining about how much work he had to do there etc. well... i also got asked why i was switching careers. i have a rehearsed answer to that now, but the guy who asked thought it was too diplomatic. i'm not sure i'd call it diplomatic, but i'll think of a better line and post it here for review first, ok?
nevertheless, it was nice to see so many eager students, excited to start their lives at stanford. i'm not nearly at that point in life, but i'm happy to be where i am. regardless.
i am amazed as hell. the metro absolutely, without question, rocks. i was reminded of the bart as i got on board. admittedly, lines (of people, not trains) are not as orderly, but that's a pan-delhi problem, we can leave it aside for now. it was heaven to be inside the train station, and the train, because the ac blasted cold air on you (in form of respite from the sweltering heat outdoors), and the surroundings were blindingly clean. i like the token system too - you pay at the counter for a token, and when you get out, the exit gate eats up the token. no trash generated, it's wonderful. the security was stiff, since the metro is perennially under threat (understandably). unfortunately, this also meant i couldn't take any pictures in metro premises. that wasn't so cool. i wasn't happy to lose the token either, could have kept it as a memoir. all in all though, i was pleased.
pleased, also because i got to see chandni chowk for the first time. i'd been to red fort by car, but that was 16 years ago. and it was straight to the red fort. although the market was closed (sunday), it was an odd (good-odd) feeling to be in a place of such historic value. i was reminded of 1947 earth, and wondered about the plight and plunder of these surroundings 60 years ago.
we walked around for a while. it must be over a km, in not-so-kind weather conditions. i was also a tad conscious about the attention my camera would grab, and didn't take it out once. a must have wondered what kind of photography enthusiast i was. not a very brave one, that's for sure! i was warned by a photographer friend once, that one should be careful in india - where people can rob cameras off you, forget steal (i remember trying to process the difference first :)). i don't like to think those things about my country, but i also don't want to risk losing my camera to prove my patriotism. hence, no shots of chandni chowk (there really wasn't much to take on a holiday anyway, to tell the truth). i did take some of the metro station though, when we finally got back to it. there weren't too many people around, so i felt brave. it was also the now or never factor that did it.
tgif (where we all met) was interesting. i met 9/10 new stanford students, eager to get to stanford and get started. i do remember their names, surprisingly. though i needed two rounds of introduction to be honest. (at least i was honest though :). i wonder how many of them remember my name!) one of them had worked in ms for 7 months, and hated it with a passion. i was forced to defend the truth, and let everyone know that ms was, in fact, a good company to work for. the conversation went on for a while longer, with him complaining about how much work he had to do there etc. well... i also got asked why i was switching careers. i have a rehearsed answer to that now, but the guy who asked thought it was too diplomatic. i'm not sure i'd call it diplomatic, but i'll think of a better line and post it here for review first, ok?
nevertheless, it was nice to see so many eager students, excited to start their lives at stanford. i'm not nearly at that point in life, but i'm happy to be where i am. regardless.
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