the train commuter..

Finally, typing... kinda like a සෝඩා bottle. However I really had to give a thought of what am I going to write about as my first proper article.

Image from here

So I thought of telling you what my life as a daily train commuter taught me. Trains are used by people from all walks of life at some point in their lives. That diversity is what makes the dull daily travel to work exciting, memorable and a learning experience.

The overall public opinion of Sri Lanka's railway service is negative, but I must say it is quite good. යකා හිතන තරම් කළු නැහැ. That is my first comment, most of the morning and evening office trains are punctual. Office trains which are express are given top priority so try to stick with those.

Trains get late frequently because of rain. If the ancient signals technology and the safety policies are updated, late trains can be brought to a minimum. Do you know that in a time of a signal malfunction, the train comes to a full halt for about 15-20 minutes? it is because the guard or the station master should manually switch ON the signal, then go in the driver cabin to the next and signal post and get off again? Seriously, use technology dammit!

I have faced only a handful of locomotive breakdowns in my 3+ years of daily train commuting. And most of them ended with a sweaty & crumpled shirt and 10-15 minute late. Tip: don't use public commuting all-together if you can't get ready a bit early. Buy a motorbike, it can catch up on time :)

විවිධත්වය in the trains are so amazing! I have seen beggars from no eyes and burnt faces to neat සීයා who plays the mouth organ in a very very nice way. It is now illegal to beg in trains, but still it happens. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවනෙ. The සීයා I told you is one person I put my earphones out for.

Remember beggars are NOT honest. But they taught me one thing, don't give up easy. A full grown man plays the damn flute with his drowsed son (ලු) when he can make some money by farming or working. A handicapped sell snacks sweating without a slight hesitation.

When you are in a train, forget "you" and look around. It really helps and teaches a lot, about life. පැය ගාණකින් මුළු බුද්ධ ධර්මයම ඇස් ඉදිරිපිට. When you are living the life in the fast lane, it is easy forget what life is all about. So I suggest to listen to what people talk about, observe how they react to each other, watch their body language.

ගෝත්‍ර වාදය in trains. You have to be a daily commuter to be in a clan. This is really serious, a survival technique in a way. I have been in couple of clans in my train-life, so here are some pros and cons of being a member.

Pros: You are bound to get a seat even for a brief time, very handy when the compartment become a spa in times of heavy rain. Occasional treats. Quality (reasonable, do NOT expect top class) opposite gender interactions. Heads up news of late trains, even if the trains are late you loose track of time. Plus fun.

Cons: Privacy (when you're in a clan, everyone know or dying to know everything about you). You turn into a ලිඳේ ඉන්න ගෙම්බා. Hard to change the membership. No control over what you see, hear, feel, smell or taste!

To be or not to be in a ගෝත්‍රය;it is up to you to decide. I do not wish to type in කෝච්චි කතා, bloggers are already here for that.

I should say this for the high class posh people in SL who say "ඕ-එම්-ජී" and "Fuck You Dad". The reality can be experienced first hand in a journey to Colombo from Galle in a weekday morning on the සමුද්‍රදේවී train. 12 compartments filled with people from all walks of life, with different expectations, objectives and  opinions.

If you want to know more about the railway service in Sri Lanka visit locolanka.blogspot.com.

තව කියන්න දෙයක් මතක් වුනොත් ලියන්නම්...