New Delhi: With the national capital always bustling with people commuting on a daily basis via the Metro, the city also has a set of people who don’t seem to as busy.
Apart from the commuters who require the Delhi Metro to travel from one place to another, the Metro has also become a spot for light meetings, short-time shelter and a nest for lovebirds.
As one reaches the Metro station and rolls their eyes down the stairway, it is always dotted with people who seem to be at the station to relax, while other commuters run past them to catch the first Metro. Rajveer, a working man, says,”I cannot afford to miss the Metro that arrives at 9.10 am, otherwise I will be 15 minutes late for work.” It appears as if people find it much more comfortable to sit on the Metro staircases than in their couches at home. It looks like they have all the time in the world to be spending it in at Metro stations.
Students, who have to reach their examination centres before time, make space for themselves at Metro stations to sit and revise. People with empty pockets often meet with friends at stations for small meet-ups. Easy accessibility and wide connectivity has eased the trouble of deciding where to meet.
Destitute patients take shelter at the AIIMS Metro station. With Delhi temperatures touching 50 degrees in the streets, people flock to seek shade near metro staircases. The poor also find themselves spending the night at the stations.
“It is a common site at Metro stations. What else can they do?” said Sandhya, a mother of a four-year-old. Couples and lovebirds have also figured a way to be together and make time for themselves by meeting at stations far away from where they came from. Youngesters are often seem wandering along in larger Metro stations such as Rajiv-Chowk and Kashmiri Gate. Their common hotspots are not only hideouts at the stations but minor corners within the Metro itself.
“Watching stupid acts like a girl biting the hand of her beloved does embarrass others, if not them. What possible conclusions can one make of what they are up to?”, said Ruchi Jain, a law student. While all the public display of affection takes place, it becomes a source of entertainment for some commuters.
