I have been taking the metro off and on to beat the parking mess at M.G. Road, but this was the first time I was seeing so many passengers on the platform that too at an odd hour of around 12 noon on a working day. They all seem to be exploring what the extended purple line has on offer and their frustration with road traffic was more than palpable.
The fact that it offered connectivity to a commercial cum transport hub (Majestic) and the hot seat of babudom (Vidhana Soudha) and that too in air-conditioned comfort, away from the heat and dust of BMTC buses and auto rickshaws had excited many.
Curious, I too decided that one day I should go up to Mysore Road and the trip finally materialised after many postponements. The time was around 11.30 am, not exactly a peak hour, and at Indira Nagar station there were some 5-6 people in the queue.
Though it was nearly a month after East West corridor opened, the novelty had still not waned. There were still many people taking selfies, groupfies and family photos on the platform, much to the annoyance of security personnel. The train finally arrived and the loco pilot happened to be a woman. Male loco pilots seem to be a rarity in Namma Metro, don't recall seeing one myself.
After boarding, I had to make do with holding on to stirrups as no seats were vacant. When the trains were plying only up to M G Road, one could easily count on one's fingers the number of passengers per bogie. The succeeding stations like Ulsoor and Trinity only had passengers trickling in, with hardly anyone alighting. Only at MG Road there was some outflow.
The train then entered the much vaunted underground stretch ('the first in South India' gushed many of our city dailies) that took ages to get completed. The descent from Chinnaswamy stadium was gentle. The stations on the underground stretch looked as if they were hurriedly done up with some finishing work still pending. The 'jugaad' mindset was very much at play.
As the train pulled into Kempegowda station, there was a widespread churn and I did manage to get a seat. The station has the makings of a busy junction with trains gorging and disgorging passengers - a gentrified version of Dadar station in Mumbai.
As the train crossed Magadi Road station it was a gentle ascent out of the underground section. I must confess my knowledge of this side of Bangalore is very scanty and apart from Vijayanagar and Mysore Road, the rest of the stations like Hosahalli were indeed quite 'hosa' (new) to me.
The Mysore road station was quite a misnomer as none of landmarks such as Satellite Bus station or Gopalan Mall were anywhere close to it. As I stepped out it looked as if this station was built out of nowhere. The highway was buzzing with vehicles and so was the flyover above, with hardly any shops or restaurants nearby.
Anyhow it is a work in (slow) progress and with the purple line proposed to run up till Kengeri, its only a matter of time before the above landmarks become accessible by Namma Metro.
Tail piece: While waiting at Indiranagar station ticket counter I happened to see an unusual notice pasted on the glass panel. It stated that children above three feet height require full-ticket, or words to that effect. I just hope that the BMRCL personnel manning the ticket counters keep a measuring tape handy, in case they run into some stubbornly argumentative parents!
Also Read: Random Jottings
