The suburban train.

I have passed the Thiruninravur railway station several times in the past decades on my way toTirupathi . I was aware that it was host to an ancient temple and my decisions to visit it was like an oath taken during labour pains--prasava vairagyam.

Today the moment had actually arrived . And there I was boarding an suburban electric train .The second class seats are hard . There is no cushioning here but the fare is soft , only 14 Rs for a 30-40 kms trip! The floors were littered with empty ground nut shells and mausambi peels. The seats were crowded with young mothers with infants returning home either after shopping or after paying social calls.There were also groups of college students [mixed] who were pulling each others legs and whiling away the time taken to reach home[ it was 5 pm] by playing with mobiles that crackle to life by a mere touch.

It seems a eternity since I first travelled in a electric train.Was i rubbing shoulders with the great unwashed?No.Most commuters were neat and well fitted out .

The only specimen from the past parade of poor were the incongruously dressed Kurathi's---gypsy women selling beads . They have preserved their past to perfection . Their wares , that is the beads have however become chunkier keeping in tune with current trends in fashion!

Visually impaired men were selling mobile covers.In all probability they are graduates who are making the ends meet till they are appointed as teachers by the govt.

What amused me was a fierce looking vendor of mausambhis ,who had plonked his huge basket on the way and his glowering and hurling abuses at two young men who dared to step over his cargo and obstruct his business for those few seconds!That those strapping young lads took this bullying meekly ,really surprised me.

After visiting the temple I boarded the ladies compartment ,for my return journey.Ah! This was totally a new world altogether.Most women who were returning home from their work as clerks,IT workers, teachers,and lower staff's had stretched out their aching limbs comfortably on the seats accommodating each other s limbs . Some were dozing and others chatting on their mobiles. One woman in particular was shrieking over her phone disrupting everyone's peace. Thankfully the recipient of this blast on the other side cut it off after some time and became unavailable.

If you thought that only adolescent boys stood on the rocking and swaying entrance of the train for thrills you would be surprised as I was .There were several women balancing themselves near the open doorway though there was no dearth of vacant seast ! They were enjoying the wind streaming from the speeding train .And there was a woman with a infant too.

All in a days work!