The man I met in the SubUrban Train…

The Suburban trains of Chennai is a irreplaceable icon of the city and has played a huge role in making the city what it is today. The city would not be the same if not for this train network. One can meet people of all walks of life in the train. The lessons and the stories the train tells is so blissful to hear if only you were listening. I’m not eavesdropping, but sometimes you could not help but over hear things. Once there was a man who was sitting behind me in train, who was talking over his phone with someone. He was so loud that everyone in that compartment knew the list of his love interests in life and his wife’s name which didn’t make the former list. A lot of drama can happen in a train journey.

Today, there was a old man whom I thought would be in his fifties but turned out to be sixty-eight was asking someone, “How many more stops are there before we reach Velachery?” while traveling in the Tambaram – Madras beach route. Though it is possible to travel from Tambaram to Velachery by train it is not what most people do, because the bus route is way shorter and used to be cheaper. So, the people suggested that he get down at the Guindy station and take a bus to Velachery. But the old man insisted that he has got a ticket to Velachery, and since he is new to Chennai it would be difficult for him to take a bus (I have lived in Chennai for three years now, but going around the city in a bus is still a nightmare for me with all those different ticket rates and complex routes). Seeing all this from behind, I broke into the discussion with my ingenious (not really) idea of switching to the Beach – Velachery route at the Park – Park Town station. That old man’s face lit up on hearing the suggestion of going to Velachery by train all the way through. The other people got down at the Guindy station and we both began talking.

To my Surprise…

To my surprise he was from Columbo, SriLanka. But his accent was no where near what the movies made me believe as Srilankan Tamil accent. He sounded very typical, but employed a little sophisticated Vocabulary. It all sounded perfectly normal to me, in fact it was very soothing to listen to him speak. Chennai was a huge cultural shock for him. He told that the people here don’t have any manners and don’t show respect to each other. He said that before boarding the train, he saw a girl calling her classmate without any respect as, “Inga Vaadi Sikiram…”. The usage of “di” or “da” is considered very disrespectful in their country that even elders would not call anyone so. He argued that the Sinhalese people are way better than us, Indians because in his view the Sinhalese people (his employer) gave him anchor during the times of war and the Indian government supplied the very weapons which killed his men. He said SriLanka is a beautiful country and the best country in the world, it’s reputation is just tarnished by this war but would be back to it’s former glory soon. While he was speaking a Woman who is a Muslim by faith, got into the train. He immediately expressed his dismay about the Muslim people. He showed a tone of hatred when he spoke about them. He supported his points with examples of the war and Terrorism in Muslim countries. After speaking foul about Islam for a minute or so, he held my hand and told me that “She wasn’t so…”; his wife, Aleema Begum. He didn’t say anything about her or what happened to her, but just said “they took her from me and our kids, that stupid religion took her away from me”. Then he started saying what this poor lady will do for the misdeeds of some morons (referring to the lady in the train).

The Park station came we got down and I showed him the way to the Park town station. Finally he blessed me and boarded the train to Velachery and I walked away thinking what life has in store for me. He was a very good man at heart, who had his own interpretations about things in life. One thing he said which I would take for life is.           “Never judge people for how they look and who they are, respect them for what they do”. These are indeed, words of wisdom from a man who has survived both war and love.

#The_humans_I_met