Long day of travel again. Woke up at 5 to catch a flight back to Delhi. 1.5hrs long w/ IndiaGO. The flight was smooth and short and we explored the city for the day to buy gifts. Originally, we planned to go to the Taj Mahal, but realized that there was a 3 hour train ride which could potentially be 8 hours late and did not want to take the risk of being stuck in Agra over night since the volunteers were flying back out that evening. The next best idea was to go into Old Delhi to visit the biggest Mosque in India. To get there we took the Metro-Subway. The first trip there was not bad and then we made our way back to the hotel and tried to get rickshaws or taxis but no one wanted to go back to the area where we lived. So back to the metro we went. Arriving at the station at rush hour times, we ran down the stairs and found that the subway car was already there. We ran into the first car we saw and stood there pleased as we were not surrounded by any men, but instead completely surrounded in a car full of beautiful young females.
To our surprise they said to us "This is the female car, if you get caught in this car, you will be fined!" Shocked, we ran out of the car as fast as we could and tried to get into another subway car but we were too late as the doors closed while we exited the female car. Now, you may be wondering why there was a car designated to females only.. . well the next part will explain that. We waited at the right spot this time and as the train pulled up about 5 minutes later, faces were plastered on the glass of the car. The car was so packed with people that it was almost a game to take this thing. The doors crashed open and people literally were jumping horizontally, pushing, shoving and screaming as they were trying to get off this subway car. Simultaneously there were people that were trying to NOT get off the car and stay inside of it. With a river of people flowing out, their only way to stay in was to hold on tightly to any fixed element of the interior and pull back with all their might. The people standing furthest to the doors would laugh their heads off while this happened as if it were a joke. Finally, after pushing our way through the exiting crowd and making our way into the car we realized why there were two separate cars. I've never seen so many men grinding with each other as I did during that ride. We only needed to go down 2 stops and we definitely should have gone for the penalty of staying in the female car. With 8 white people, I'm sure we would have been able to get away with saying it's our first time and we're tourists.
Anyway, for all those that made it onto that first train, we held onto each other, with a few latched onto the train as the doors opened and closed. For those 2 stops we mentally prepared our escape and plotted our route of ducking and diving over and under arms, legs and children. Finally we got to our stop and I followed a posh business man in a suit out of the train. Elegantly, he panicked and with a flustered face he leaped towards the exit. Pushing, screaming, being crushed against peoples backs and chests with his face smothered he attempts to exit like an american football player carrying a briefcase. Then there was me with my arm on his back pushing him forward as if I were the football player and he was the guy blocking everyone from tackling me =) We eventually exited the sea of people after being pushed all the way to the perimeter wall of the subway tunnel. To my entertainment, the posh business man who just got bashed around stands up straight, with his hair a mess and his suit jacket around his shoulders. He fixes his clothes, fixes his hair, and then calmly walks to the surface up the stairs as if nothing had happened and like he didn't just panic for his life. Needless to say, many things were stolen on that metro ride which included my cellphone and another guys camera.
To our surprise they said to us "This is the female car, if you get caught in this car, you will be fined!" Shocked, we ran out of the car as fast as we could and tried to get into another subway car but we were too late as the doors closed while we exited the female car. Now, you may be wondering why there was a car designated to females only.. . well the next part will explain that. We waited at the right spot this time and as the train pulled up about 5 minutes later, faces were plastered on the glass of the car. The car was so packed with people that it was almost a game to take this thing. The doors crashed open and people literally were jumping horizontally, pushing, shoving and screaming as they were trying to get off this subway car. Simultaneously there were people that were trying to NOT get off the car and stay inside of it. With a river of people flowing out, their only way to stay in was to hold on tightly to any fixed element of the interior and pull back with all their might. The people standing furthest to the doors would laugh their heads off while this happened as if it were a joke. Finally, after pushing our way through the exiting crowd and making our way into the car we realized why there were two separate cars. I've never seen so many men grinding with each other as I did during that ride. We only needed to go down 2 stops and we definitely should have gone for the penalty of staying in the female car. With 8 white people, I'm sure we would have been able to get away with saying it's our first time and we're tourists.
Anyway, for all those that made it onto that first train, we held onto each other, with a few latched onto the train as the doors opened and closed. For those 2 stops we mentally prepared our escape and plotted our route of ducking and diving over and under arms, legs and children. Finally we got to our stop and I followed a posh business man in a suit out of the train. Elegantly, he panicked and with a flustered face he leaped towards the exit. Pushing, screaming, being crushed against peoples backs and chests with his face smothered he attempts to exit like an american football player carrying a briefcase. Then there was me with my arm on his back pushing him forward as if I were the football player and he was the guy blocking everyone from tackling me =) We eventually exited the sea of people after being pushed all the way to the perimeter wall of the subway tunnel. To my entertainment, the posh business man who just got bashed around stands up straight, with his hair a mess and his suit jacket around his shoulders. He fixes his clothes, fixes his hair, and then calmly walks to the surface up the stairs as if nothing had happened and like he didn't just panic for his life. Needless to say, many things were stolen on that metro ride which included my cellphone and another guys camera.
dislike...but I guess under such circumstances, it was bound to happen. Mmm be more careful.
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