From the untenanted Metro of Chennai to the jostles of Delhi metro.

With the advent of yet another new year, just as everyone would do in terms of resolutions, I did have a few for myself but obviously I am not here writing about it. I am going to share a few experiences this New Year has brought to me within just ten days into her. This article, can also look like an extension of my previous work on “travel ”, and when one of my friend sarath balan, had suggested that when I travel alone, to a place I have never been before, in a land where I am not comfortable with the local language and when the next step I keep instills skeptics on my mind and of course a little fear about the unknown territory, then I have to write an another one, and here I am. It has taken time, but let me say the experience is worth it.

Moving ahead, let me tell you, all my life I have had people who used to wish me that new year will bring in new ideas to my head and it will take me to new places, but I was at a point where just one day change in the date will not make any difference. I was wrong, I had to wait all these years to make this trip alone, to stay in a place about which I completely didn’t have a clue- I specifically choose not to google about the places around, specifically choose not to install google translate, so that I can interact with more people around and make new friends in a territory completely unknown to me. This initial experience and my choice of taking a chance has really paid off, and trust me in the end we will only regret the chances which we didn’t take.

En-route to work on the first day, the moment I stepped out of my guest house, eating my sandwich, I saw a hungry dog, and immediately gave it a small piece and continued walking. When I was returning back from work, there was this dog, walking along me, just like any friend would do, and it certainly made me think, learn loyalty only from dogs. Everywhere we go, they are the same, and I wonder if humans can ever be like a dog. The next time someone tries to abuse you calling you a dog, be proud of it and wear like a badge of honor. Initially it was a struggle with the weather, language and food of course, but I realized it is only at the end of my comfort zone real experience and adventure begins.

To make you understand that, tell me why you call, being on a roller coaster as an adventure, because obviously you don’t do it every day, this journey in life is very similar.

I have often heard of people saying about the pollution in Delhi, to the fog and Smog effects well and also the odd- even rule. Trust me, you can certainly be well read, but it is better to see it all once in real than to hear or read about it a thousand times. Be a wanderlust, no one ever who wandered are lost completely. There is an excessive amount of pride attached to it.

Travel while you are young, and able. Money spent on experience is the best investment. Other things are temporary. Doesn’t let you grow, and that growth isn’t worth it. EXPLORE, meet new people, there is of course a great deal of fun in staying with people who do not know who you are and what you have been through, at least they will never be judgmental, and at that moment, your smile will certainly be a key into their hearts.

I have got a few experiences to share with upfront, but with this, I will try to be as specific as possible with a particular experience of travelling in the Delhi metro, and first things first, must thank my new colleague Ishita, who was kind enough to lend her metro card, which made me get past the long queues, trust me I can definitely compare it with the queues you see outside the ticket counter, when our superstar movie releases, and next up is the metro man Dhruv, he was the one who had asked me to use the metro.

To begin with I loved the discipline of the people. Certainly, crowd handling with so many thousands of people at any given time will be a strenuous if not for the support from the very people who use it. They form a queue to the either sides of the door, letting people who wants to get out use the center lane and they get in through the either sides, and this is like WOW! Once, you are in, the typical Indian scene awaits you and you get to experience a mix of all from the snoring uncle, to the fat aunty who stamps your leg and still scolds you for not giving her way, ( by one inch), the dude who still chooses to wear his shades inside an air conditioned metro at 7 pm, just to make sure the chick next to him doesn’t catch him ogling at her and the mix of both( good and wanna be good) looking chicks, who keeps ignoring the dude’s lecherous gaze. This is not all. You can still find a bunch of friends passing comments on the cuddling couples and no one ever bothers here about all that or a girl asking for the guy to give her a little space so that she can sit, and the guy doesn’t take it for “love”. Awesome yaar, Hats off for that.

I was certainly out of place in this crowd. To me, the fear of not losing my wallet and mobile was itself a big challenge. So the next time you board the metros in Delhi, remember to play whatever music through ear phones, because when it stops playing you will know the mobile is gone, and don’t worry about wallet, just make sure you lean against another person, so if someone gropes you, BEWARE!. Follow these two, you can even have a short nap, but please don’t snore.

And, importantly never worry about getting into the metro or getting off it in the right stop, all that you have to do is to make sure you go and stand near the entrance, you will automatically be pushed in or out.

All said and done, I was one among those who always felt Chennai is where my heart is, though I still stand by it, guys it is all because of your psych, which doesn’t let you off your comfort zone, I can say this because I have been there and done it. So many people will live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of conformity, security and maybe conservatism, all of which might appear to give you peace of mind but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit of a man than a secure future. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy in having an endlessly changing horizon for each day.

What are you waiting for? Go pack your bags and go off to an unknown territory. Everything else can wait!