Je m'amuse my muse: The Metro

So what could bring me back from the proverbial dead to blog another day? Of course a highly amusing, uncomfortable metro ride! I mean, the metro really is a capsule of this city, especially the part of the city that I engage with. Here you can test out all your psychological theories about Dilliwalas (or Delhi-ites for my international readers).

Today on my way to work, I was truly punished for being early. You know when you say that you were packed like sardines, into a car, into an elevator. You. have. no. idea. In fact, I want you to think of me every time you use that phrase and laugh to yourself at how you are exaggerating. You know, the way all you people in the states do when someone says it's hot. Somewhere in your mind a cartoon version of me pops up, with a pool of sweat around her, you sigh and think "ok, it could be worse".

That's how bad this was. I honestly don't even think sardines have it this bad. I was wedged in among the women in the ladies car, with my backpack suspended about 10 inches away from me, lovingly cradled between the smalls of two women's backs, one chatting on the phone and the other audibly sighing and visibly sweating. That's the other thing! The body heat! Development is super into innovation these days. I want to propose some device that can generate electricity from the body heat trapped in these cars. I can't even really claim to experience the worst of it, since I have a full foot of head clearance at the top, but I could feel people radiating from the six or so points of contact I had. 

I want to write something romantic about the small of the women's back that I was permanently pressed against, since I could geometrically map it out and even sculpt it based on how intimately I got to know it over the course of our twenty hot, sweaty minutes together. I'm sure the other girl felt the same way about 60% of the surface area of my body. 

Despite the frustrations about everything when you are packed in so tightly, there are two really fun things that can result from this critical density. 1: eventually you can really just relax and let everyone support you, like a jellyfish, ebbing and flowing with the aanewala/jaanewala. 2: you can understand molecules. You know that lesson in chemistry when your teacher tells you everything is made out of particles bouncing against one another, and the difference between air and the chair you are sitting on  is how close together the little blips are packed. My mind was blown, and I just couldn't believe it. Actually and seriously, until today I had no practical understanding of this fact. I get it now. 

And the difference between when the doors are open and when they are closed? Liquid and solid:

Missed me?

Love, 

Violet