Article #51: Life in a Metro

Early Morning Sleep, Mid-day Brunch, Evening Office & Night Pubs,  

Mall Roaming, Online Chatting, Tinder Dating & 5-star Ratings 

Weekday tight schedules & Weekend Parties 

Hold on, hold on, what are we talking about? More or less, this is the average life story of every adult living in a metro. But along with it, there lies many stories of life in a metro that keep starting, growing, arising and inspiring. 

Metros are known for their economic and social influence. India is also growing fast with so many metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad. Along with the usual hustle bustle, there are so many things that happen in a metro and living a life in a metro seems to be easy for some while it becomes very tough for some other. Irrespective of whether it is easy or tough, I would say life in a metro throws a challenge for everyone at some point or the other. 

So, Let’s explore what actually is life in a metro 

It’s Morning 5 AM, the pigeons start flying with their own music. You could see some elders on roads up for a morning walk. At the corner of almost every road lies a chai wala, that’s the only means of living for them. Along with the tea sellers, you could find some middle-aged men on their bikes full of large boxes carrying the freshly cooked breakfast, Idly, Dosa along with 2 or 3 chutneys. Their family wakes up at least at 3 AM daily to start their business which is a challenge considering the impact of climate sometimes, the heavy rains or cold weather. But they don’t complain, just move forward. The metros as well start their journey irrespective of whether they have a good number of passengers or not.  

Slowly, the clock strikes 6 AM and you could find the city buses running all over the metro along with the local trains. Of course, you can find some milk men here and there. The paper boys, water suppliers, Taxi & auto drivers begin their day. It also needs some preplanned preparation from their end at least 1- or 2-hours prior. The drivers have to ensure that their vehicle is in a good running condition with enough petrol or diesel. The paper boys have to collect the daily newspapers and invest at least 90 minutes of their physical strength for the delivery irrespective of whether they can or not, but they move on. 

Now, it’s 7 AM, the school buses start from their sources. Surprisingly, you can find some software engineers returning from their night shifts, do you know they too don’t want to spoil their health and life doing such shifts. But situations demand and life in a metro is not that simple as it appears to be. On the other hand, you can find some people of similar age group starting to their office. The shops, super markets, breakfast centers open. You can find some of the ladies bargaining with the vegetable vendors on the roads. But why? Madam, they have to spend more time in getting those vegetables than your total time in the kitchen. Still, the vendors get compromised sometimes because that is the means of life for them. 

Then it’s 8 AM. More and more shops open, the beginning of the traffic problem in the metro. Small roads, large vehicles, school & college buses, sudden breaks, traffic signals. Everyone wants to go fast, but no one reaches on time. It becomes tough to chase the vehicles in the morning every day and reach office on time for an employee, it is challenging for a bus driver to run the large vehicle daily full of overloaded passengers, it is hectic for a traffic constable to manage the traffic when there are no signal lights or when the signal lights don’t work, but they never keep thinking about such things because that’s what makes the life in a metro. 

Finally, it’s 9 AM. Life starts at its full pace in the metro, with loads of traffic, school prayers for students, work for employees, Daily Laboure's, electricians, plumbers, carpenters. There are many who are not happy with their work, or who are not in a position to work, still they move ahead to meet their ends. 

Time as well moves ahead and it’s 10 AM. The traffic is not going to stop soon, you can see crowds of people on the roads who could be new to the city to build up their life, who could be one of the well-settled persons in the city, irrespective of young or adult, male or female, you can find almost everyone out in the metro at this time for various reasons. There could be many in those who are homesick, many in those who are hungry, many in those who are overburdened with their problems, but they do not stop moving forward. 

11 AM, the malls and restaurants gradually open. It’s time for preparation of scrumptious lunch with delicious dishes for the customers. Some of the chefs might not turn up sometimes, some of the ingredients might not be available some days, even there could be times when no or least number of customers turn up for the restaurant. But the show must go on. 

12 PM, it’s all about the upcoming lunch break. When there are some who enjoy lip-smacking items in a rich hotel, there are also others who have to adjust with a small box of curd rice. Also, there are some who are coconut sellers in the mid-day who end up having only the coconut water and the malai. Along with them, you can find many men who are working for the food delivery of their customers irrespective of climate, date, day and distance. You can never find them expressing their problems, in fact you see them smiling with the deliverables. That’s what makes life in a metro different. 

1 PM, while the never-ending traffic continues on the roads, you can find people in groups going for lunch gatherings or up for a smoke chat. There could be strikes at one end of the city, political rallies at the other end, religion gatherings somewhere, above all, there would be places where people are served food for free based on the donations. None of these will show impact on the other, that makes life in a metro unique 

2 PM, you could see a boss waiting for his employee to get back to work, a client waiting for his lawyer at his office, an ordinary citizen waiting to file a complaint at the police station, a patient waiting for a doctor, students waiting for their teacher to start the class, more or less, everyone here is waiting for some productive things to happen. But except the boss in an office, none of them actually complain because they know that it’s part of their good for a better life in a metro. 

3 PM, the hustle bustle in the city takes a break at this time. Still, you could hear the sounds from a movie theatre with or without audience, even though there won’t be much people turning onto the theatre during the weekends, the show must go on. 

4 PM, the beginning of the traffic once again. Coffee shops get filled with new customers, the road side pani puri becomes everyone’s favorite all of a sudden. Do you know most of the pani puri vendors are migrants from other states? Yes, they come to the metro, busy with all the required items preparation in the mornings and start their livelihood from the evening irrespective of whatever the situation or scenario is. 

5 PM, the evening traffic flow continues. You can find the elders once again on the roads having their evening walk. Most of the interesting things begin at this point in the metro like circus, exhibition, live music, stand-up comedy shows and so on. Arranging all of them is not that simple, it needs days of preparation for them, like a stand-up comedian should keep coming up with his creativity every now and then, no matter in what way is his personal life at any point, the job demands him to be creative all the time. The comedian is also aware of the fact that life in a metro only goes this way. 

6 PM, the evening traffic touches its peaks. Most of the Employees return to their homes after a full tiring day at work, some of them would be afraid of the responsibilities at home or other personal issues. But that doesn't stop them from facing those issues and that moves their life as well in the metro 

7 PM, the relaxing time for most of the people in the metro. Of course, the beginning time for the people working in US Shifts, all thanks to the globalization. But is there an option to complain? No, that’s the only way to sustain in the metro. 

8 PM, the food services begin once again in the metro. At most of the places, you find those small curry point centers that sell you the required items at a bearable price. At some places, you can find women of your grandmother age. Isn’t it an inspiration that they are striving hard in the metro even today after reaching this age? 

9 PM, It’s not the village where people go to bed. It’s the metro that never sleeps. You can still find the return of IT and bank employees to their homes, at the same time you can find some of the salesmen, entrepreneurs still working since morning, in one way or the other, that contributes to the growth of the country’s economy. 

10 PM, the TVs in most of the homes become active with the so-called daily soaps. On the other hand, these daily soaps as well require lot of time and patience to complete with so many retakes short after short. After all, they have to show their faces with enhanced expressions to you thrice in a single moment saying, Kya Kya Kya. Is there a way to get out of it? No boss, it’s the life in a metro. 

11 PM, You find more than half of the population in the city online busy with their phones or laptops. Of course, that’s the reason we have great developers in the country who do their jobs in the regular timings and contribute in developing the new apps as freelancers to give you a wonderful experience in the phone. Isn’t it amazing? 

12 AM, Birthday wishes pour in the WhatsApp groups, cakes are cut either in home, or at a restaurant, club or even in the middle of the road. Common, the city celebrates its birthday at midnight. No doubt it is an enjoyable experience 

1 AM, most of the adults go to sleep at this time, but do you know that there are some who let people go to sleep during that time? Yes, you are right, the RJs or the podcasters like me or the famous singers and the musicians. We know that it is very tough after it reaches to a certain extent for an RJ to come up with a fresh content, but that’s how it should be, that’s the life in a metro. 

2 AM, the party is still on. While there are many who already snore in sleep at this time, there are some who keep partying, at the same time there are people like me who go behind their passions like recording this podcast or coming up with the episode content. Chill, this is normal in the metro. 

3 AM, the peak sleep time for most of the people in the metro, yet the raising time for the small early morning business people. It affects the health, still it has to happen because that’s how life works in a metro. 

4 AM, the midnight parties are done. Let’s go home by having a breakfast somewhere. Sounds weird right, but that is natural here.  

Good or bad, Right or wrong, Correct or Incorrect, True or False, Best or worst, Fine or not, it doesn’t matter. Life in a metro moves forward daringly, confidently, inspiringly, voraciously, and extraordinarily. There’s no space for complaints, zero tolerance for issues, no point of excuses, life in a metro builds in its own way starting from the morning chai to midnight party, morning walk to midnight talk, morning breakfast to midnight biryani, morning news to midnight views and what not. Let’s welcome everything with open hands to grow in a positive direction. What do you say?