The Delhi Metro

I dont recall when it was announced that the first leg of the first stretch of the Delhi Metro would start from Shahdara and go uptil Tis Hazari. It was a major achievement for a small place like Shahdara to have the initial Metro glory. I was in Xth standard when major activities started happening just outside Shyam Lal College. The area, which had a couple of petrol pumps, some open fields, illegal furniture shops, overgrown shanties was completely cleared up. I recall my amazement on seeing the area flat as a carpet, and that is when I knew the Metro would be the best thing to happen to Delhi after Sir Edwin Lutyens left it.

My school bus stop was bang opposite where the Welcome station now stands. I took a keen interest in what had changed since the last day, as though my own house was being built. The team of engineers started the work in several segments rather than going in a serial fashion. This parallelism ensured the completion of the task before time.

Jump to December 25, 2002: 0525 hrs :->I got up intime to get onto the first Metro train to leave the Shahdara station at 6am. It was peak winter time and presuming people would be home, I convinced Ma to come along. Baba dropped us to the station, which had a queue of atleast 2000 people at 5:45 in the morning. I overheard a big fat businessman looking person boasting how early they got up to come from Jangpura to Shahdara and board the first train. I was heartbroken. The station which I had seen being built from scratch did not have space to accomodate me. The train ride I dreamt of standing in the cold, waiting for my school bus to arrive, was not to be. I got into one of the huge lines anyways, with Ma besides me.

5:50 am :-> A hassled looking man came to us and in a huff, " Madam, aapko tickets chahiye kya? ( do you want the tickets?) ". Black marketing on the metro and that too on the first day?? I wondered, it happens only in India. I nodded in affirmation. " To phir hamare liye bhi 4 tickets khareed lijiye (then please take some for us)". I was confused. Is the black marketeer expecting me to buy tickets from him or is he wanting some help to get tickets, knowing the fact we dont have them itself in the first place. Before I could ask anything, he continued, gasping for air, " The ladies line is empty !". The rush of adrenaline was beyond me, and I grabbed Ma's hand and almost ran towards the ladies counter. The man tried to keep pace.

5:56 am :-> Ma bought 6 tickets, two for us and 4 for the other person. No monetary change at the counter in the morning. Chuck it. The train leaves at 6 am. Run. I wondered how the many males standing in serpentine queues would manage to board the train in another 4 minutes. Not my concern. RUN!!!!

5:58 am :->As the magnetic gates opened, I saw cameras focussed on us. It was the media, and in large numbers. We were at the platform before 6 am . There were a few people before us on the platform, apparently with ladies. But where is the train? It appearead on the scene at 6:15am. The shining new beauty came whistling down from within the fog to the relief of a hysterical crowd.

6:19am:-> The first train left the station. Time thereafter has definitely changed the history and face of Delhi. There were chants of " Bum Bum Bhole" and " Jai Shri Ram" from some excited RSS members. Understandably, there was a game of political one-upmanship going on between the BJP and the Congress.

6:45 am: The train was slow and stopped longer than normal at all stations to aviod injuring anyone. As we got down at the Tis Hazari station, it was a phenomenal view. It was a bright sunny day, with the sun piercing through the usually menacing Delhi fog. I called back home, spoke to Baba and wanted him to come along.

8:15am: After spending some good time at the platform listening to what Sheila Dixit ( the then chief minister of Delhi) had to say about the Metro, I was tired and sleepy. There was some minor hiccup in the train going back to Shahdara and was frustratingly delayed. It came at around 8:30 am. Ma and I boarded the train and went back home.

9:00am:-> One of my uncles called to ask if we had gone for a Metro ride. I said yes, but how did he know? Well, we were on Aaj Tak, on Zee Tv and all other news channels. I rushed to Tinkal Bhaiya' s place. (We had disconnected the cable due to my sister's board exams). An hour later, feeling everyone including Dadi should be able to see us, I called the cable waala and had the cable tv restored.

Delhi Metro indeed changed the way we travelled. Baba got into the habit of travelling back from office by Metro, he loved it. For me, Kashmiri gate McDonals was the meeting place with friends (specially BIT friends; mostly Mukesh). Had it not been for the Metro, I would have almost not taken up the summer project at DRDO, two stops from Kashmiri gate.

With the Delhi Metro now expanding throughout Delhi, its been a boon to all of us. All members of my family are heavily dependent on it for travel, not because of the anything else other than the ease of travel. Three cheers to E Sreedharan and all people associated with the Metro, its the air conditioned mode of travel which has brought smiles to a lot of faces.