Are you a metro species?
When you travel through the metro, it can easily be observed that the common public is running to get something. Some are on a phone call, some are depressed from their boss, and the majority of the people remain busy with their earphones either listening to
songs, podcasts, or something else. The fact is everyone wants to get engaged and needs affiliation but in metro cities, their smartphones remain the only way to get engaged. Am I true here?
I know what the imagery in the reader’s mind about the metro love stories and the fights there sometimes seems to be entertaining but believe me it’s something more than that. The factor is it is very usual for students to travel by metro. In the metro, there are nearly 3 million passengers approx. in a month. If a student travels daily 2 hours by metro it is by calculation nearly a month in a year. It means every year a student spends 1 month inside the metro so there is a species that exists there that we can call a metro species.
The question is how many of them are happy? How many professionals and students can affiliate through natural means and how many positive reactions can be observed to “excuse me”?
This is what everyone calls a professional life where the duties and responsibilities are something more than a person. Thus, I believe that present-day Delhi is living in isolation in a crowd where what the human needs is not there. As you step onto the busy platforms and get into the trains that weave through the city’s veins, you can’t miss the rush all around you.
Is corporate living in solitude inside a crowd?
People move everywhere, each going to their place, with their own goal. Yet, in this storm of movement, a strong feeling of being alone stands out—though you’re around lots of people, you feel by yourself in a big sea. This alone feeling is deep in today’s city life. The non-stop rush, with work and social pressures, often leaves little space for real connection. In a city where time is gold and bonds can be short, it’s easy to feel cut off from others—to miss out on the simple happy bits of being with people.
The report on the mental health of adults by WHO posits in 2019 that 15 percent of total working-age adults are either in depression or prone to depression which in turn leads to loss of 12 billion working days every year. Delhi is indeed currently exhausted by the corporate and machine culture at present and only stays there just for livelihood. If monetary gains remain the only reason to work, we must call it workload as it is a load that we are weighing on our heads. What the problem is? and why people can’t take an interest in their profession.
Problem in culture
One of the professionals from product design maintained that there are two kinds of mindsets. One is a fixed mindset that allows people just to focus on the goals to think out of the box and to be an “intrapreneur” is what lacking in our corporate culture. Another is a growth mindset in which the majority of unicorns are working, where the humanist theory of self-actualization is applicable where if the required need of belonging and affiliation are being fulfilled then a person can grow.
It is also apparent from our experiences that there is an urgent need to stop the gradual conversion of humans to humanoid robots. In this era, the only difference that remains between robots and humans is that humans can feel emotions, thus as one of the responsible members of this community is that this emotion must be protected not tortured. Secondly, it is very necessary for companies and institutions is that they must keep the power politics under very favorable conditions where the personal boundaries of the person must be respected.
Are you the one who will solve it?
Yet, there’s hope in the chaos. The same things that make us feel alone can show us how to connect again. Starting with small kind acts—like smiling at someone you don’t know, talking to someone else on the train, in offices, colleges, or helping out when you can.
Also, we can make places in the city where people can meet and connect deeply. This could be through events for everyone, art in public places, or parks where people can gather.
These efforts can bring together people from all kinds of backgrounds, making
a sense of togetherness and unity. The answer is in seeing city life in a new way. By making
people and making friendships important, we can build a city that’s full of life and full of meaningful ties. So, the next time you’re moving through the underground maze of the metro, stop for a bit, to look deeper.
Amid the noise of every day, there’s a mix of stories to be shared—a sign of how strong we can be together, and the lasting strength of being connected. The debate is not what we think Delhi is but how to find a solution for this non-sociable solitude which gradually is being converted into isolation and loneliness and the answer lies within. Please maintain your human emotions. Laugh when you feel so, disagree when you can’t agree, cry when you are not okay. Please respect yourself and take care of yourself. Remember you are ideal of someone you don’t know.
Great work bhai! đź‘Ź