Noiseless in Mumbai...

'Twas a strange Tuesday morning. The never-sleeping city woke up early from it's disturbing dreams. There are souls who feel comfortable in the noise that cocoons them, like the reassuring sound of the AC which perhaps serves as the backdrop for one to sleep. But there was something amiss this morning. As if the bass, or perhaps the treble control of Mumbai's ever-boisterous stereo had conked out. A set of frequencies could not be heard. The auto-rickshaws were on strike....

I had never thought it could get so un-nerving, the absence of a constant sound in your life. A particular color that runs through a fabric had been selectively washed off. The streets below looked disturbingly empty. Like someone had walked away with the screen, and had kept the projector running...

Perhaps no other city relies so much on public transport as Mumbai does. And just like all things which are taken for granted are sorely missed when they are gone, the three-wheeled, non-electronic-metered, CNG-operated lifeline of this city was missed. Both by those who avail of these ricks, as well as by those who don't, cause the latter variety was particularly surprised by the sheer absence of traffic on the roads. Where have all the people gone, was what I was thinking. Apparently quite a few decided to work from home today (what a wonderful excuse...). The rest took a forced leave. And those without whose presence things don't move in offices had to perhaps contend with the super-crowded buses, or the superlatively-crowded trains (yes, hanging onto a fellow traveler's collar, with one foot in the air and the other on another fellow traveler's foot, does qualify as "commute" in local Mumbai lingo)

Nobody of course was really bothered about the rick-guys. Some really convincing, well-oiled, well-politically-connected senior sales manager of the Electronic meters company did a good job of convicing the local authorities as to why all these fellows should shell out 3K INR for something that is as easily tamperable (visit Lamington road for more details) as the mechanical ones in use today.

Of course things didn't fly for long, and the strike was called off when the government promised to create yet another committee (all part of the afore-mentioned sales manager's plan) to look into this urgent matter. As is usually the case with government committees, it will take them two months (and a few crore rupees will again exchange hands) to decide whether to introduce these new meters or not...

At least till then, this city can find comfort in the noise again...