The Delhi Metro has undoubtedly eased our lives over 15 plus years. But the same cannot be said about the passengers, who are yet to learn even the basics of boarding and de-boarding the train and observe some etiquette and decency. Keeping to your left would naturally smoothen and straighten the movement, but why follow the rules when we can run in like a pack of wolves to grab any seat that is vacantij While there are people in a hurry to board, at the other end of the spectrum are people who have to disembark five stops away but resolutely maintain vigilant privileges at the doors. Throw a glare while getting off but they are as non-chalant as a missile shield. And of course, who in their right mind gives the much-coveted seat to a pregnant woman or an elderly personij Not a Delhizen, for sure.

The less said about the romancing couples who inhabit the vestibules in between the “ladies” and the “general” compartment, the better. Hell can keel over but they will refuse to give way to anyone who wants to make his/her way to another coach. And then there are the woes of women, who God forbid, board the general compartment and can be treated as nothing short of aliens. If looking them up with x-ray eyes was not enough, irrespective of the fact that they might be travelling with a child in their arms or carrying a load, any request for vacating a seat is often met with, “When you have the entire compartment, why do you need a seatij” They do not understand there is just one pink coach and women are one-third the passenger profile. And this despite signs which scream to “Please give the seat to a needy person.” Why are we rantingij Because travel etiquette is what will define us as world citizens and qualify us to live in a world city that Delhi aspires to be.