Push and shove

If you happen to be a railway commuter, you’d be knowing how precious space is inside a train compartment. Which also explains why the term dhakka — meaning push or shove depending on where you’re standing — is as common as crowd. To be fair to the daily passengers who have accepted the harsh reality of congestion, nobody likes to have a quarrel and that too inside a jampacked train. But things happen and we often get entertained by two or more characters who wouldn’t mind slinging expletives before taking up a more violent stand — no pun intended. However, many a times, these silly confrontations evoke either laughter or silent appreciation from people gathered around. For instance, a young fellow was apprehending a senior citizen for dhakka when the latter firmly asked, “Meri umar hai dhakka deneki?” This was before he added, “Dhakka lagne se aadmi aage hi badhta hai, peeche nahi.”