Metro station turns vantage point
Joyriders, daily commuters delay journey to catch glimpse of pageantry
As hundreds gathered at Field Marshal Manekshaw Parade Grounds to witness the Republic Day celebrations, many others chose a vantage position to watch the show. At the Metro Station on M G Road, families and individuals gave the trains a miss as they preferred to watch in comfort the ceremonial parade.
Huge groups of college students and schoolchildren came there, accompanied by a faculty member each, to catch a glimpse of the pageantry. Interestingly, dozens of foreigners also took interest in watching the ceremony. Anna Schlemm, who is studying in an international school in the city, said: “This is the first time I watched such an event in the city. There is a lack of interest among youngsters here in events of national importance. I don’t know why.”
The usual mobile ice cream stalls and ‘bhelpuriwallahs’ were found outside some of the gates to the ground, but they could only do a rather diminutive business in the morning.
But many visitors who reached the city centre to hop onto the Metro found it more comfortable and convenient to watch the parade unfold through the glass windows on the second floor of the Metro station next to platform one.
Many were found trying to get closer to the windows to get a better view of the event. Some of them said they would get onto the Metro, only after the parade concludes.
Ramesh Karthikeyan - who came to the M G Road station for a joyride on a train with his wife and child - said: “I wanted to take my family to the parade grounds, but my son wanted to go on his first ride on the Metro,” said Ramesh. However, his son finally chose to give the parade a chance to entertain him. “We will take a train after the parade and come back to M G Road in the return train,” he said. People getting off the Metro at M G Road station were not able to witness the show as they alight at a different platform. The fact that staying at any station for more than 20 minutes attracts fine left most commuters with no choice but to hop on to the following train after they missed one. However, Metro did not witness a heavy rush as was the case a few months earlier.
While traffic and security restrictions kept any untoward incident from happening, not many private vehicles were found during the morning hours on M G Road, indicating that the presence of people from middle and upper segments of society was not high at the parade. ACP (Traffic), Ashok Nagar, S A Pasha, told Deccan Herald that there were no strict restrictions on Thursday. “Parking on M G Road from Brigade Junction to Kumble Circle was stopped for the period of the event. Apart from that, traffic was allowed to flow without any hindrance. Traffic flow has been rather smooth,” he said.
