How I miss those Blue Line bus conductors screaming their lungs out and hitting the bus with their hands in the quest to get the passengers. They never bothered where you wanted to go but they always dropped you somewhere close to your destination.
I don’t know where those buses are right now and what happened to all the drivers and conductors – did they get other jobs? Did the additional fleet of DTC buses absorb them in?
Now there are no more people hanging from buses as the low floor buses have taken over – these buses have doors that shut even if the bus is overcrowded. The driver of a low floor bus shuts the door out of routine and there is always some dupatta, sari pallu, or a trouser part caught in the door! But this is Delhi, this is nothing, worse things happen.
Suddenly I see a changed Delhi. Now even without security passengers board the metro in a queue. Looks like classical conditioning has set in. And then yo see 20 year-olds talking on their phones and sitting on the seats reserved for ladies. Then there are those who (even if the seats are empty) prefer sitting on the floor of the metro.
I want to see that person who coined the term ‘Dil waalon ki dilli.’ He must be out of his senses. Try even slightly pushing someone in a packed metro, by mistake that is, and Delhi’s true character comes out.
Police barricades in the middle of the road with no one in sight is a common sight. And barricades are not the only means of creating a jam – people drive while talking on the phone, further reducing the speed on the road. And that also leads to fights.But this is Dilli.
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