"One thing I told you do. One thing!"
The man did not know where to look for all were looking straight at him. And such attention at a station named Andheri at 7:30 in the evening is more than enough to cut a man down to size.
This man though was already cut down to several sizes even before the woman brought him to our notice that evening as we waited patiently for the trains to behave and arrive on time.
I had been walking down the stairs that run away from the bridge spanning all the platforms and I had noticed them right from the time I set foot on the bridge itself. She walked as if she wanted to make a point with her footsteps and he was not quite sure what it was all about.
"I don't want to hear anything!," I heard her saying - and I was nearly 10 feet away on the bridge as they sprinted down the stairs, "I don't want to hear anything at all." Of course, she was angry and didn't want to. But everyone around - me including - was all set to hear more.
Now people in Mumbai - and perhaps in other parts of the world too - do pretend to be in a hurry to catch the train or the bus and behave as if nothing else matters to them. However, as a matter of fact, I do think it's just what it is: a pretence. For the moment this couple landed on the platform and Ms. Fireworks began her blasts again, nearly all the ladies - standing where the ladies compartment was to halt - stopped their conversation and the men around did the same.
The train was late but no one - on this side of the platform at least - bothered to look annoyed and make the usual noises. Instead, they just gawked as the man stood there and let his ladylove (?) throw him into different shades of red with her words.
"What you called?"
"I did."
"You did not! One thing I told you to do! One thing!" and she resumed looking at the Vasai local stationed a metre or so away as if her yelling was the most natural thing in the world.
The fellow too began to look around desperately for a nook from where no one would stare back at him and decided to fix his gaze on the blackened tubelights right above his head.
But no sooner had he done so than she began all over again.
"Can't do anything! Useless!"
"What?" - and this was a teeny tiny whisper of a protest - "What did I do?"
"What you didn't do is more like it."
"So what didn't I do?"
And true to her essence of being a woman, she just stared down the question. Women are always like that. You ask them about the thing they are angry about and they'll never ever mention it upfront. They'll just frown, be silent about the thing, but never will they spell it out completely. And so, men are forced to play detectives and try their best to fish out the thing of their woes.
It's as if women always wish for a little mystery around themselves no matter how surprisingly simple, or at times stupid, the 'thing' maybe. And this woman was no exception. She didn't mention the thing though it was so obvious she would be able to breathe if she just let it out and get over and done with it. But no, she refused to drop clues about what it was. She did, however, make him realize that whatever it was, it was the wrong thing to do.
I smiled. It was very amusing. Yes yes I know what you are about to say ("How can you?!" "How mean!" "Do you have any shame?"... blah blah blah), but it was oh so funny: People anticipating what's to happen next as if it were a 3D soap opera and the couple blissfully aware of it all and yet perfectly alright with the idea of pretending as if the platform is theirs for the quarrelling.
Surprisingly though, a while into this episode - say after 15-20 minutes -, I lost interest in its proceedings. No no, it wasn't because of what I thought you would say after reading this. Probably, I lost interest because I felt they did need some sincere privacy. It's their fight after all and entertainment at the cost of angst and animosity to another is fun - true - but it does have a tendency to boomerang on you. And of course, Western Railway also decided to send the train in at that moment.
So, as the train announced itself, everyone left them alone, the woman left the fellow to board the train, and the fellow did the same too - still clueless as to where it all led to...
The man did not know where to look for all were looking straight at him. And such attention at a station named Andheri at 7:30 in the evening is more than enough to cut a man down to size.
This man though was already cut down to several sizes even before the woman brought him to our notice that evening as we waited patiently for the trains to behave and arrive on time.
I had been walking down the stairs that run away from the bridge spanning all the platforms and I had noticed them right from the time I set foot on the bridge itself. She walked as if she wanted to make a point with her footsteps and he was not quite sure what it was all about.
"I don't want to hear anything!," I heard her saying - and I was nearly 10 feet away on the bridge as they sprinted down the stairs, "I don't want to hear anything at all." Of course, she was angry and didn't want to. But everyone around - me including - was all set to hear more.
Now people in Mumbai - and perhaps in other parts of the world too - do pretend to be in a hurry to catch the train or the bus and behave as if nothing else matters to them. However, as a matter of fact, I do think it's just what it is: a pretence. For the moment this couple landed on the platform and Ms. Fireworks began her blasts again, nearly all the ladies - standing where the ladies compartment was to halt - stopped their conversation and the men around did the same.
The train was late but no one - on this side of the platform at least - bothered to look annoyed and make the usual noises. Instead, they just gawked as the man stood there and let his ladylove (?) throw him into different shades of red with her words.
"What you called?"
"I did."
"You did not! One thing I told you to do! One thing!" and she resumed looking at the Vasai local stationed a metre or so away as if her yelling was the most natural thing in the world.
The fellow too began to look around desperately for a nook from where no one would stare back at him and decided to fix his gaze on the blackened tubelights right above his head.
But no sooner had he done so than she began all over again.
"Can't do anything! Useless!"
"What?" - and this was a teeny tiny whisper of a protest - "What did I do?"
"What you didn't do is more like it."
"So what didn't I do?"
And true to her essence of being a woman, she just stared down the question. Women are always like that. You ask them about the thing they are angry about and they'll never ever mention it upfront. They'll just frown, be silent about the thing, but never will they spell it out completely. And so, men are forced to play detectives and try their best to fish out the thing of their woes.
It's as if women always wish for a little mystery around themselves no matter how surprisingly simple, or at times stupid, the 'thing' maybe. And this woman was no exception. She didn't mention the thing though it was so obvious she would be able to breathe if she just let it out and get over and done with it. But no, she refused to drop clues about what it was. She did, however, make him realize that whatever it was, it was the wrong thing to do.
I smiled. It was very amusing. Yes yes I know what you are about to say ("How can you?!" "How mean!" "Do you have any shame?"... blah blah blah), but it was oh so funny: People anticipating what's to happen next as if it were a 3D soap opera and the couple blissfully aware of it all and yet perfectly alright with the idea of pretending as if the platform is theirs for the quarrelling.
Surprisingly though, a while into this episode - say after 15-20 minutes -, I lost interest in its proceedings. No no, it wasn't because of what I thought you would say after reading this. Probably, I lost interest because I felt they did need some sincere privacy. It's their fight after all and entertainment at the cost of angst and animosity to another is fun - true - but it does have a tendency to boomerang on you. And of course, Western Railway also decided to send the train in at that moment.
So, as the train announced itself, everyone left them alone, the woman left the fellow to board the train, and the fellow did the same too - still clueless as to where it all led to...
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