Chennai to Bangalore

I am one among the hordes of people who have moved to Bangalore upon graduation. Bangalore, being in close proximity to Chennai, makes it incumbent on me to duly travel home every weekend. I must impress upon my readers that these frequent trips home are solely because of the impassioned pleas of my family and friends and not due to home-sickness, loneliness, craving for home-food or a necessity to get my clothes ironed.

This post is about the people on the train home. They all fit into one type or the other. I shall now proceed to descibe the various types to you.

The IT Guy
This type of person, as you might have guessed, works in one of Bangalore's many software engineering firms. His main characteristic is the laptop which hangs from his left shoulder. A Deccan Airways tag will also faithfully adhere to his luggage. Every time he wants to visit the bathroom he will point at the laptop and say loudly"Please take care of my laptop, I will be back in a few minutes" This is in case he feels his fellow passengers have mistaken his laptop case for a shoe bag. This type of person also looks upon all non IT people as beneath contempt, unable to understand why someone would choose a profession that will not take them to the USA in three years of joining the company. When I inform him that I work in civil engineering, he expresses his condolences and sincerely hopes that I will be soon able to find an IT company to take me on.

The Maama/Maami
These are the standard issue elderly folk on the train. As soon as they enter the train, they request you for your lower berth. Upon the train leaving the station, they immediately open two Dabbas of curd rice which they then proceed to polish off with relish. Once this is done, they transfer their attention to me. Questions follow about my job, accomodation, salary, and address. All my answers will be compared with their son who usually is the above mentioned IT Guy, albeit living in the USA. When I tell them that I work in civil engineering they usually stop talking to me assuming that I did really badly in the Tamil Nadu State Board Examination.

The Babe with the Cellphone.
This type of person is female and is usually good looking. A boyfriend usually drops her off at the railway station and. Upon the train leaving, she calls him up again. The conversation then lasts long into the night, neither too loud so as to enable eavesdropping and neither is it too soft to ignore. If this person happens to occupy the berth adjacent to yours, any chance of sleep will be disrupted by continuous giggles (if the relationship is in its infancy) or snarls (if it is a few months old). Does not usually care if I work in civil engineering.

The New Parents
These type of people are a young couple with a baby in their arms. Their immediate task upon entering the train will be to close the windows so as to protect their precious baby's ears from the wind. They will then look at you expectantly, waiting for you to comment on the baby's intelligence/cuteness/smile. In case you do not oblige, (or in my case scowl violently) they will affix you with murderous stares and the mother will hug her baby closer to her breast, making you feel like a child molester.

The No Ticket Guy
This type of person is one who has ommitted to book his ticket prudently in advance. He will give you a sycophantic smile and sit half his butt on your seat. He will then glance up and down the corridor nervously in anticipation of the ticket examiner. Upon the TE's arrival he will start talking to him in hushed tones, maintaining the oily grin with considerable difficulty. In case he is lucky, the TE will give him a seat. Once this happens he drops the grin immediately, becomes brusquely irritated with his fellow passengers and puts his feet up on his allotted seat and hums a tune.

These are the most common of the train travelling types on he Bangalore-Chennai route. More on living in Bangalore in further posts. Stay on the edge of your seats, readers.