There are a number of things that one has learned about the recently-inaugurated Chennai Metro — it’s the costliest in the country, the sixth in the cities to have metro connectivity, the first train was steered by a woman, on day one people arrived at 11 a.m. to take joyrides till the night and that it was not so joyful for the guy who got ‘slapped’. Gleaming machines, clean stations, swanky trains... it seems like a lot has changed.
Like the simple fact that everyone was photobombing everyone else’s selfies; a throwback to the Queen of England who photobombed at the Commonwealth Games last year. However, this time, you inadvertently became a part of it even if youweren’t actually
featuring in it. Especially, if you were busy ‘minding the gap’.
While one half of the crowd was busy taking selfies and ignoring the train on the platform — and on day one, the train halted for more than 30 seconds, mind you — the other half rushed to the doors, pushing, shoving, and elbowing each other in the process.
If this were a competition, then Tirupati darshans and first-day-first-shows for Rajini movies (almost) lost. Of course, the selfie crowd had to board in at some point. And they did, many times, by skilfully, yet forcefully wresting open the doors of the not-even-a-day-old trains.
But what’s with our penchant for applauding collectively, every time the train takes off, engineering marvel and all that, aside? Weirder still, what’s with our fondness for ‘traditional Tamil cultural activities’ where we grab fading strings of jasmine off the train, and place it on the head of our loved ones? Maybe some things still remain the same.
