I came across an article today in Hindustan Times (GRP, RPF pass the buck over bullying on locals - pg 6). About how many Mumbai Local train passengers have to face the menace of errant 'regular passengers' who lay claim over their 'regular positions' in the trains. And how many people blame the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF), who are ineffective in tackling this issue.
I have been a regular Mumbai Local train commuter for the past decade. And I have "been there, done that" so to speak. And I completely understand what many people have to undergo in the local trains. Like so many insects, we cram the train compartments - pulling, pushing, sweating, cursing, hanging at the door or bearing unimaginable pressure from all sides inside a compartment jam full of throngs of people. In Engineering Mechanics, we had a concept called a "Free Body Diagram". An object being subject to a multitude of forces, is isolated and displayed in the diagram, with all the force vectors represented by arrows pointing towards or away from the object. At that time, I had imagined drawing the Free Body Diagram of a Mumbai Local train passenger - a person standing in most unimaginably awkward and twisted position, with hundreds of force vector arrows pointing at him/her. For that is what a Mumbai local train passenger has to undergo.
We Mumbaikars are an ironic bunch. We are always in a rush. And we are never on time - always running late. Driven by a need to reach the destination asap - a need so obsessively and compulsively irresistible that we don't mind risking our own lives, or the lives of others. Time has value. For time is money. Life? What value does it hold? Especially in a place so crammed full of so many lives??? (Demand and Supply principle at work?) So we risk it all, as we struggle to reach on time...
Everyone who is anyone in India, and who can afford it, wants a piece of the Dream City. And so we see a constant inflow of new wannabe mumbaikars getting added to this already over-bloated mass of seething struggling creature that is the population of the city.
With all this seething overflowing mass of Mumbaikars leaving their homes almost at the same time in the morning, and leaving office almost at the same time in the evening - the unholy "Peak Hours" - what can one expect but traffic jams, crowded buses, over-crowded trains...? And after a busy and hectic day's work, when one has to face such inhuman travelling conditions, then there is bound to be some flare-up of anger, as the pressures become too much and we give vent to all the day's pent up frustrations... Inevitable, isn't it?
I guess this is the same picture that can be seen in may crowded cities all over the world? Or is Mumbai a special case? No idea. But one thing is for sure, we Indians in general and Mumbaikars in particular are very good at playing the Blame Game. Over-crowded trains? Blame the government and the public servants (Railways). Traffic Jams? Blame the government and the RTO.
That our government and the public servants are ineffective in many ways and have many shortcomings is something I totally agree. But here's the thing. Any people will only get the government they deserve. I do not believe that the minister and the public servants are much different that any of us. The problem lies in us - we have a major moral deficiency. We hardly ever stop to think of whats right and whats not. It not always that difficult. A little voice is always guiding us, warning us. But we conveniently subdue it.
And we blame the government for everything...
Some things are in our own hands. Like not throwing away waste wherever we like. But its too inconvenient. So we throw waste wherever its convenient and then will blame the government when someone criticizes the uncleanliness in our country. Or, in the case at hand, it is always one of us general public who acts irresponsibly when we give vent to out frustration and anger and get into a fight with someone else (even I have done that a couple of times - and believe me, in the inhuman pressures that we are subjected to in local trains, it does happen). Or when we lay claim over a particular seat, claiming to be 'regular passenger'.
And it is also us - the general public - who standby and mutely watch such errant miscreants openly do such unjust and rowdy acts in local trains. We will take no action. And we will not support the one poor fellow who does show his guts to stand up alone against such injustice perpetrated around us... We are too busy being in our eternal daily hurry....
Yes, some things are in our hands. But some things aren't. For instance, we cannot control the over-crowding in trains. So we expect the government to do something about. Increase the number of trains. Increase the number of boogies in the trains. Increase the number of tracks. Provide security to us from the errant behaviour of certain miscreants. But this is where the skeptic in me begs to differ.
If you are given the responsibility to ensure such security measures in local train, how will you go about doing it? How do you ask your men to travel in crowded trains, and take action against such errant behaviour? Especially when such unjust acts are perpetrated by bullies in big groups? How do you expect them to do this during peak hours when the trains are so crowded that one can't even move? Its not a herculean task. Its a freaking impossible task.
With hundreds of new arrivals everyday, Mumbai population keeps growing at an unprecedented pace. Whatever you do - increase the number of trains, or the number of boogies per train or the number of tracks, you will never be able to keep pace with the population explosion taking place in the city. The Mumbai local trains have always been crowded. And they will always be crowded.
The article complained about how people are not allowed to get down at Borivali in Virar trains... I have traveled in Virar trains. The situation is deplorable. They are more crowded than I could ever imagine. With majority of the labour workforce hailing from Nala Sopara, that's kinda obvious. But if you wish to go to Borivali, why get into the Virar train in the first place? Why be in such a hurry? It is obvious that you will invite the ire of the already troubled Virar commuters.
As for unjust and rowdy behaviour by some miscreants, it is inevitable. There will always be bullies. Common human behaviour. And, we, the aam aadmi (common man), will never stand up united against such unjust acts of bullying. Most of us neither possess the guts, nor the confidence in our unity. And it is impractical and impossible to expect the GRP and RPF do anything about it. Even the damn TC cant board the crowded trains in peak hours. How do we expect the railway police to take action in such situation?
A related sub-article asked the readers to lodge their complaints on a facebook page by Mumbai Railway Police. That really left me scratching my head... Its as if social media has become one answer for all our troubles. How will it help when someone posts a complaint on FB? By the time you post the complaint, you are out of the train, and so is the bully. Who know who he is and where he must have gone to? How go you expect the railway police to recognize him, find him and apprehend him? Seriously? Am I going nuts? Or is the rest of the world (about social media)??
Maybe I am being very pessimistic about the entire situation. But over the years, I have seen the railway struggle to keep pace with the increasing hordes of Mumbaikars. And accepted that their pace has been slow, but whatever steps they have taken to ease the problems faced by daily commuters, have fallen grossly short of whats really required. The rate at which we are growing, I personally feel it is almost impossible to do much about it. Maybe I am being too negative about it all. But that's poor old pessimistic me.
No comments:
Post a Comment