Chennai's EMUs and the blind baba...

For me till a few months back, these trains were just a source to get to my workplace in Mahindra City, 50 kms from my home at West Mambalam. But for so may other people they are the workplace itself. India's trains are a huge melting pot of multi-cultural and diverse people. You meet all sorts of people from the average unknown indian commuting to work to the omni-present beggars, the ubiqutious romeo hanging out or the people trying to beat the Chennai heat by standing near the doors, to the salesman selling just about anything from eatables to handkerchiefs, safety pins, pen-cum torch light, detailed Chennai map (I bought one of those, at just Rs.10/- and believe me its kick-ass stuff) and other stuff that you would probably get only in trains and at throwaway prices, among a host of other items, and each with his own specific baritone to attract people's attention. Strangely, this feature was absent from the Mumbai's local trains. One reason that i could think of was that those trains were far too crowded (probably the most densely packed trains on planet earth) for hawkers to get in.

But one sight etched finely in my mind, over the past year and half is that of a blind beggar (I wanted to write about this guy for so long, one of the people that I would not forget in a hurry), creating a haunting piece of music with a sort of crude home-made wooden single stringed musical instrument, with the instrument body resembling a cuboidal wooden box with an open end at the bottom and a single metallic wire drawn tautly over its face. The blind beggar, dressed in a ragged lungi and kurta and a cap uses a metallic spoon to press the string against the body of the instrument and uses a one rupee coin as a plectrum and generates music out of it. He goes from compartment to compartment in the trains creating music and earning a living for himself. Most often than not he plays inspirational film songs on the instrument. But one day, he played the national anthem on the instrument, sending me into goosebumps. They say that the national anthem should not be played at any place and at any time, and that the listeners should be at attention while hearing the anthem. But then whats the problem when its helping someone earn his bread? I was too moved to actually react to the situation, and it already was time to alight. I felt sad, an still feel so that i could not actually listen to the entire composition that day...