I spent almost 5 hours yesterday traveling to and fro on a train to a small town near Cambridge...Yes, sometimes, like twice a year, we do have to work on a Saturday to attend some stock take usually...Somehow train rides and airline flights always get me thinking...I can't ever sleep on them and I always take the window seats...However, compared to flights, I find train rides much much more interesting...Like yesterday, I took the early morning train and basically the day dawned infront of my eyes...An interesting observation which was brought to my attention by a friend: In places that are in the south, kinda near the equator, the day dawns much quicker...Its like the sun just springs up into the sky...However, in UK and places further north, the lazy sun takes ages to finally rise up from its somber...The result is a wonderful hue of interchanging colours...From total darkness (it is said that the darkest hour of night is just before the dawn), it first turns darkish blue, then yonder on the horizon one can see a shade of purple coming up and then reddish, orange and finally it turns yellow and if you're lucky and clouds are not blocking its way, you can witness the spectacle of the mighty sun just kissing the edge of the horizon while it rises up slowly...In the midst of all this, you see the birds finally making a flight, ready to fly, collect food for their lil ones or stuff to make their nests...the sheep, start moving around ready to do whatever it is they do, probably just eating grass all day and mating I guess...There seems to be a population explosion here...There seem to be more cows and sheeps than people...It all seems so surreal, as if its part of some dream or a movie or a book...The trains here dont do the chik chik chik routine of the pakistani ones...Here they just whiz away smoothly...While I'm engrossed in the scenery, I'm literally knocked out of my trance when another train just whizzes past in the opposite direction, just centimetres apart...Trust me, it certainly makes the heart jump...Then while you're getting accustomed to the light of the day, the train passes through a tunnel and all of a sudden, you're staring into total darkness and your eardrums get impacted by the sudden pressure change just like they do when you're ascending or descending on a flight...
The most interesting aspect of a train ride is the type of people you get to see and sometimes have conversations with...Trust me, UK is definitly one big melting pot for all cultures...Literally, you'll find cheeni meeni's, desi's, european people, literally people from every place you can imagine in just one train ride...As they call in Pakistan you get to see so many "item pieces" or "namoona's" from all over the world, each with their own quirks and eccentricities in this great race to either integrate themselves with this culture or differentiate themselves to the point that they just seem like jokers...I kinda get more interested in our desis...There are many categories:
1) The fully conservative self righteous types...They are usually the ones with long beards, wearing the arab style taups (kinda like ropes) and the women covered from head to toes..
2) Then there is a particular class of desi's who in their confusion as to what culture to choose i.e. the local gora culture or their parents one thought wait why don't we just take the culture of the kala's (:...They are the ones with the lowly hung jeans which reveals their undies and have chains and weird piercing in one of their ears, eyebrows and what not...Usually there are fewer girls in this category but the ones who are usually hang out with kalis' and have their hairs permed and curled up...They are the types who listen to the UK version of bhangra which always has a kala-like voice uttering some fancy ass words like "i need a desi fly chick"...wth that means :S...Sample the cheapness yourself:
3) The third category is the shalwar kameez party...These are the people who've lived here for decades yet want to flaunt their nationalistic pride...They usually only speak two languages: Punjabi and English...Their english still has traces of what some people would refer to as "paindupan"...They use words like "innit" or "kasmay"...The girls usually wear some 1960's version of shalwar kameez coz they probably visit Pakistan after a decade and so follow the fashion that was prevailing when their mom's migrated here...They also tend to use very heavy shadi type makeup which makes them look as if they're actually out to trick and treat for Halloween...Their music also tends to be mostly biased towards Ataullah Essa Khelvi, Nusrat Fateh Ali and Noor Jahan which is all good but they tend to know nothing about junoon, vital signs, atif aslam etc...Even their names seem to be antiquated like sughra bibi or Allah Baksh Mirpuri...
4) The fourth category is of what local people called "Freshies"...They are the one who've moved here just recently for studies or who've probably got a job here or been married off to a cousin born and raised here in the UK...These people can be easily spotted by their penchant for leather jackets, their tight pants, their love for wearing socks and then chappals or sandals...Their hair styles are usually of two types: the first can be a "tere naam" style Salman Khan look...The second is usually a crew cut of sorts which makes you think that probably they got their hair cut in an assembly line with the sides being totally trimmed by a machine and one blob or mat of hair staying on top...They think it makes them look cool but I just roll my eyes when I see them...These guys usually are the ladlas back home but they still hail from middle class families back home who somehow get them to study in "pardes" at huge costs probably by mortgaging houses and taking loans etc...They usually roam around in packs and tend to be heavy smokers...The freshie girls that one tend to see around here seem to come from some village I guess...They're like cousins of the guys who're born and raised here and get wedded off to them...When you go shopping you can identify them with the fact that the hubby does all the talking to the shopkeepers and cashiers while they just stand back quietly in their colorful shiny clothes...The only thing missing from the whole scene is a paranda and the gal chewing her dupatta while she acts shyly...
5) The fifth category is usually of people who've also come here to study or do a job but they hail from rich families back home...The crème de la crème of Pakistani society who've studied in the KGS's, the LGS's, the lyceums, the beacons, the froebels, the aitchison's of Pakistan...They mostly goto Imperial, LSE, UCL, Kings College, Oxford, Cambridge, Royal Halloway,LBS or Warwick...They seem to come here to party and my God they party like no tomorrow...You'll find them always dressed to impress in the latest designer wear and accessories...They openly drink in public...The guys always tend to have some gori as arm candy and basically they go buckwild in what someone would term as the "pursuit of happiness"...But hey wait...They dont forget their religion do they...After a fine night of drinking and merry making, they would always ask for halal meat when they go have a meal the next day...So yea...Ironic innit?!?! :p
The thing about these people is their hypocrisy....After years of partying like this, when its time for them to get married, they always urge their moms to find some "decent, virgin, untoched, shareef girl"!!!
I know I'm massively generalizing and obviously not everyone would fit into such categories but these are only my observations while I travel to and fro on these journeys and meet people...In a way I'm going to miss the train rides once I get myself a car but I guess that would be a whole new different experience as well...Apni gaddi!!
All of it seems like a dream: the life i'm living these day...somehow its like a train ride...every scene quickly whizzing by...Its too fast if you ask me...Lets see what the next destination of this train ride will be...
I couldn't post this without having a song in mind...The closest I could think of this old song called "Runaway Train" by soul asylum...I loved the lyrics, tho the vocals of the lead singer might not be that good...But still, its a nice song
Bought a ticket for a runaway train
Like a madman laughin' at the rain
Little out of touch, little insane
Just easier than dealing with the pain
Runaway train never comin' back
Runaway train tearin' up the track
Runaway train burnin' in my veins
Runaway but it always seems the same
P.S: Camrbidge is such a wonderful old town...Its a must visit...Seems like a scene from Hogwarts with its old buildings and spirals and towers...
No comments:
Post a Comment