Its after almost 7 years i traveled in Metro alone... Though I traveled with a
friend once two yrs back... And she had a fair idea of metro routes...
I had
this phobia of travelling in a crowded bus and metro from quite a
long time...The fact was it was never actually
required. MBA college was close to the
place i stayed and from job i started driving...
Today
was the day where this came to an end... It takes courage to face your
fears... Although, for many its a very
normal thing to use metro or bus... in fact, my mom, dad, bhai
& people around me all are comfortable using public transport... I
somehow find myself phobic to it.. It scares
me... I dunno the reason… May be I
don’t wanna come out the comfort zone I created for myself over the
years...
In the
morning, I reached my office on time and started calling people to fix up
meetings for the day... A senior colleague asked
me to come to our Chandni Chowk branch...
Chandni
Chowk.. The most crowded place of Old Delhi... And its somewhat similar to Aligarh & Meerat.
I asked
people around me about how I can reach Chandni chowk as I never went
there alone or never took my vehicle towards
that area.
A
generous colleague helped me by calling his friends and guided me... He
told me there is no parking in that area so better
take metro..
I was
upset and reluctant.. I called up few more people to ask for route
navigation…. I wanted to hear that 'yes' I can
take my car but all suggested public
transport...
After losing
all hopes of going by car.. I told myself... “Dear girl, you have to travel the world... Entire country.... There
you cannot take your car and you
may not be able to hire a taxi always... So if today you are not comfortable using public transport of your own city,
how will you do it while
travelling the world?” And i realized, I am so right sometimes... :-P
This
gave me courage and pumped my morale... I asked the guy which route I need to follow he guided me... And the journey
began... Woohoo... :-)
Weird
& funny me... I asked the way to metro station from 3 people... Still
got lost... Finally entered and saw a long queue
fr tickets... I saw a small queue for
metro card lane... I chose to take a metro card... Got card, recharged it... And went towards the entry where the guard
shouted, "yahan kahan ja rahi
ho", I shouted back "toh aur kahan jaun mera purse scanner me
le liya aur mujhe jane nahi de rahe"... He
stared angrily and guided me towards
female entry gate... I stared back very badly and walked fast
towards platform...
Now, I
followed instructions and waited for my metro... Metro stopped,
I decided I’ll go in female coach but unluckily
it was too far and I was standing
away from it... I tried running towards it but realized gates were
about to close so I quickly boarded in whatever I
got…
Real
bad people... Real bad crowd... Some people stare you like you are not
wearing anything and its embarrassing...
I was
standing in the middle holding a hanger... I counted stations... I was
11 stations away from my destination... I saw
my watch multiple times... And passed
my time by looking at watch... And counting stations...
I came
out of metro station just like a lost girl in new town... Following instruction boards... It was so crowded.. I tried
clicking a picture of crowd but a guard
saw me and stopped me... He asked me to delete that pic in front of
him... It was strange but I did it...
As
told by a colleague... I knew I had to take rickshaw for Masjid from there
our bank was near.. I did the same... I clicked
pics from my fone sitting in
rickshaw...
The
place is so different... I really wish to come here for photography
sometime... In the meanwhile i was thinking i
have to come here this Saturday
too for my friend's shopping for his wedding... :-)
I
somehow feel.. if I’ll delete this from my mind what kinda people travel in
metro and stop bothering about how they stare...
it’ll b easier for me to travel...
So, I m not giving up here... I faced my fear and it was not that
bad what I used to think... I’ll do it again and
till the time I overcome it...
Though it’s not at all difficult to do so...
While
going back I’ll try to take up women's coach... As I am still sitting in
our Chandni chowk office and writing this while
waiting for the meeting to get
over and meet the person concerned...
Let’s
see... What’s lined up now for going back…. I am quite optimistic about the journey back to my office... :-)
Chandni chowk
***
I finished my meeting, it was a nice interaction and headed back
towards market to take a rickshaw… This time I was feeling more excited,
confident and happy… As if I was enjoying the moment and waiting to travel in Metro to repair the bad experience…
I took a rickshaw and started talking to the rickshaw wala… bhaiyya,
yahan kis din sabse zyada bheed rehti hai.. saree market kaunsi hai… lehenga market….
Suit market… jewellery market… gray market... what all are famous here to eat
and so on…. And I reached metro station… After gaining the market knowledge I
entered in to the metro station…
I was feeling happy… This time I took female specific coach and it was
neat and clean… It was good and I was feeling safe... This time the journey
seemed shorter and in precisely 25 mins I covered the distance which
otherwise would have taken more than an hour by car…
Overall... I am happy and feeling comfortable for the next time… :-)
A good start for the month…! May Love :-D
God, Thanks for being there for me… I love you...
Take of my people :-))) Muuaaah
