Vanakkam!

I visited Chennai recently and as opposed to what I had heard about the place, I really thought it was a great city…apart from the fact that language was a big barrier, the city as such did not give any reason to disappoint me…well apart from one thing…that I will tell you guys about through an incident that took place…

I took a local train from some place to reach the airport. I get into a compartment and to my surprise see most of the train empty, still many people are standing as there are not enough seats….me talking to a friend in bombay on the phone, telling her about the new place and all … that’s when I start talking about the train, heres how the conversation goes:

Me: the local trains here are kind of like mumbais locals… just that theres a lot of wastage of space..

Friend: wastage as in???..

Me: the number of seats is very less in the compartment, its not optimally designed for passenger comfort, so many people are standing where there could have easily been seats, god knows how people come up with such designs for local train compartments, I tell you this place blah blah….

Friend: hm hm

Me: ya man utter wastage of space I tell you, Mumbai is so great…now I know the reason y…people out there have the brains…they don’t keep 75% of train space vacant for people to just stand around….they build seats …they understand customer comfort and they prioritise it…here toh I don’t think people are sensible enough…I mean….(me going on and on as if its some life or death thing…not just seats..)

Meanwhile, a co passenger taps me on the back and says softly : “bhai sahib luggage compartment hai”

Oops!