It is funny how people in London are used to spending two thirds of their day in super-congested compartments that they called ‘The Tube’. Cases of people falling ill during their ride on the train are not rare in existence. Some common explanations are the lack of ventilation and/or the person being sick before entering the train. Data and almost every single passenger would choose the former. After a long day of learning about countries from all around the globe at the World Travel Market organized in ExCel London (eastern end of London), I was heading back taking the usual, the Tube. Tiredness was what I could see in other passengers’ faces. All of them looked dead. The only means of entertainment were the sight of people making futile attempts to stay awake and the banging of the heads on the side glass by the seats. My journey was supposed to last for approximately 2 hours. Peak hour exacerbated this journey of mine by allowing a dozen 6.5 feet tall guys in the already full compartment in which I was struggling for some fresh oxygen. I was pushed to the side and could barely move. Few more people got on at the next station, among which there were two girls (17/18 yrs, normal looking, probably college girls). One of them was pushed to the pole I was hanging on to. After about a couple of minutes, I realized that her body was pressing against my hand. I felt awkward but couldn’t do much due to congestion. She was also holding on to the same pole. Soon after that, I felt someone trying to play with my fingers. It was her. I felt very uneasy and quickly withdrew my hand into my pocket. I was confused about how I should react. She then looked at me, smiled and then ended it with a polite ‘sorry’. No reaction from me again. The only thing that came into my mind was ‘Wow! That was unexpected’. Then things went back to the way it was supposed to be in a train chamber. I got lost thinking about nothing, looking outside the window. Slowly, the share of oxygen per passenger in each chamber started going up, after halts at several stations. More and more people started getting off the train. I was still standing by the door. Then it reached the station before the one I was supposed to get off at. The doors opened. Suddenly, I felt something warm on my chest. I quickly came back to senses to realize that it was somebody’s hand. It was the same girl. She looked at me, gave the same smile, said, ‘You are too sweet!’ and walked out. No reaction from me this time as well. To make the matter a little bit more interesting, I had my cousin sister sitting not very far away from me on the train witness the whole scene and later interrogate me about my intentions and thoughts. Again, no reaction from me.
I guess interesting things can happen in some of the most boring places as well.
If you were me, tell me how you would have reacted.
I would have said "I'm flattered but I don't swing your way."
ReplyDeleteThen again, that's just me!
It's usually girls who get felt up on public transport, I thought. But given the space constraints, I don't think backing away was an option.
ReplyDeleteHaha..Pragy: the ladies man.
ReplyDeleteI probably would have been as stupefied as you were because seriously, that kinda shit doesn't happen everyday, thankfully...haha. So sketchy. But at least she wasn't MORE aggressive...that'd be kinda scary.
on one side, there was an innocent looking female teenager from their country. on the other was me, with an unshaven brown face resembling a typical terrorist according to the western definition. i wonder which one of us they would have supported. may be i should have thanked her for not making a scene.
ReplyDeleteHey who said the Tube was a boring place... you always see all sorts of weirdoes and the occasional rapper!
ReplyDeletehaha I didn't realize praggy wrote this till I read the comments. Then I thought about it, definitely not Maity's writing style. That's pretty funny. With little O2 and my cousin sister next to me I prolly would have done the same. Seems like it would be pretty easy to get robbed in "the Tube."
ReplyDelete