Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Riding the Metro

The Delhi Metro is the city train or subway system here. It is only a few years old so it is still a novelty for some. I have been using it lately to go to different parts of the city. Our new house is close to a Metro stop so it makes travel easy.

The Metro has a car that is just for women. Like the Delhi buses, the Metro can get packed full of people. So they have made an area that women will not be pressed against men and will be safe from the eve-teasing.

There is also a separate security line for women as you enter the station. Sometimes the line for men going through security is 50 long. Whereas the ladies line is one or two. So the Metro is great for women. We get to buzz through security and rush to our spacious car for a pleasant ride to our destination.

There is a fine on men if they try to ride in the "ladies only" car. I think it is like 1000/-. The other day I saw a guy riding in the car and the young lady next to me took out her big camera and took his picture. Not sure why. She took about 5 shots of him looking directly at her. It was very obvious. She did close ups of his face and full body shots of him standing there. He made no move. Then the lady next to her tapped on her shoulder and pointed to the sign that said, "no photos". And the young lady said, "I know." It was odd that she was so concerned with the guy who was in the wrong car (not bothering anyone) and yet she disregarded the rule of no photos so blatantly. Boy, talk about taking the log out of your own eye first.

The other thing I like to do on the Metro is look at the size of peoples' heads. I find it quite interesting that there are some really odd heads. So I ride, usually standing, and stare at heads.

People are staring at me all the way because I really stick out, being a foreigner. I find they look at my feet a lot. Probably because I wear the cheapest flip flops and they all have nice shoes on. They probably think I walked out of the house with my house shoes on. They happen to be the most comfortable shoes I have.

Loving the Metro!

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