Billing in seconds

The hoardings cry out loud! Billing in seconds! Walk while you talk! What not! To entice every single mortal in its wavy techno grip! The mobile phone is indeed a blessing! The call waiting is also indeed! But what do you do when you have an important person on call and another important person calls? Whose call do you attend? Normal dilemmas all we mortals face! Right?
Now check out this one…a normal crowded second class train compartment, sparsely filled with an assortment of ladies of all ages, sizes and shapes, some reading, some eating, some doing a makeup touch up, some gossiping and bitching, some listening to music and some on the mobile phone…a very normal scene in every suburban local train in Mumbai … Its evening and the breeze is unnaturally heavy, I wonder what scent it is laden with… how many are noticing the change in weather and changing sky colors… I too continue listening to music, smiling to myself for being quirky that particular evening… having a first class pass I have disembarked from my privy compartment only to push myself into the second class compartment just for fun! Some jostling around… The compartment is relatively less crowded, am happy to have found enough place to rest my spine upright!
Then I notice her. Standing at the door, on the footboard, just above her is the pasted sign which warns of punishment and penalty for travelling on footboard…I still ignore… just like she is, ignoring the whole world and talking away endlessly to someone on the mobile phone… as my station approaches closer, I smile thinking of meeting my beau, and concentrate on the next romantic song playing on the music player…lost in my own world…another girl comes and stands behind this lady engrossed in telephone conversation…till suddenly the girl at the footboard suddenly disappears!!!!
The girl behind is numb, and frozen at the door! Women shriek!!! And someone pulls the chain, the train grumblingly halts a few yards ahead…what happened! Now the murmur regular womanish banter is replaced by alarms, shrieks and hysterical crying! What happened!!!
What I saw with my own eyes just is beyond belief! The girl so engrossed in the call, decided to replace her hold, let go of her hand at the main door bar wanting to hold the handles in the train…but the train jolted forth, the movement, one reckless moment and she was thrown out! Out of a moving train, phone in hand and all! Fell out! Maybe terribly injured, hurt, maimed or maybe even crushed and dead under the wheels of the train!!! Life suddenly stopped! In tracks!
On call, with an important person, but death on call waiting… Death can be an impatient suitor! Snatches you off! A second and you are gone! Gone and dead!
A normal work day, tired and heading home, chatting to someone special or bitching about her work, she must have done so many times but today was different. The claims were high, on her life that is!
All I say is, life is precious! Do not walk while you talk in the train! No! it kills! I have witnessed it!!!
Enticing it might seem to be billed in seconds but what price does one end up paying!
I froze at this thought!