8: 30 Naihati Local Poem by Jameel Ahmed Ansari

Continuation of my earlier poem “My Journey to Office”


Now starts the game of musical chairs,
Slightly different from the actual game of musical chairs,
If you are lucky you get a chair,
If you are not you start fuming in despair.

You have to board the train like a hungry animal.
You have to push shove and kick efficiently
You have to use your elbow in the strongest possible way,
You have to pounce on the vacant seats like a ferocious cannibal.

You have to face the feudalism of the so called daily passengers,
Once a daily passenger has got a seat,
He considers himself the emperor of the adjacent seats,
He’ll place hankies, newspapers, umbrellas, bags and all possible stuffs
On every adjacent vacant seat,

To get a seat, You have to plead in the following possible ways
'dada ektu shorun', 'ektu chepe bosun', 'ebar ektu uthun',
'ektu boste din', 'koto dur jaben', ”dada chap ta samlan”
Start cursing or keep mum if they don’t give you a chance to sit.

Even if you've got a seat to sit,
Your miseries are far from over,
Just as you feel you are seated comfortably,
An oldie comes and pleads 'baba ektu boste dao',

Your face turns grim and you have no option but to gift away your seat.
You stand and stare at his sleeping face the whole journey.
You open your mouth you won’t get a seat,
You be polite even that won’t be enough to win you a seat.

If you receive a push reply with a kick
If you receive a stare, reply with a glare.
If you become weak,
You’ll b sandwiched.

Getting off the train is like getting away 4rm hell,
The moment you leave the clumsy hell,
You get rid of the stinky smell.
The suffocation leaves, you respire fine and start to soothe as well.

That’s my journey to office,
It’s a struggle I know,
It’s a rough ride I know,
Yet it’s worth having such a journey to office.

I wish I had woke up a bit early,
Wish I had caught the train at 8: 30,
Wish I had grab the vacant seat,
Yet I feel its worth having that short morning nap.