If you live in India and don’t have a car or can’t afford to take your car out every day, then you must be used to perennial overcrowding on all modes of public transport in big cities. I’m leaving out the bikers in this realm because in the major cities most of them park theirs near the local train stations and take off. The only advice that comes to mind is ‘never expect a seat, always focus on getting a standing space where you can travel in some comfort’. Of course, getting a foot space is no guarantee of continued comfort due to the fact that additional crowds keep boarding at stations along the way. However, this is still the only way to somehow overcome the discomfort of overcrowding. Although the scenario applies to all modes of public transportation, such as city buses, local trains, and the subway, in this piece we will mainly focus on the jobs of commuters inside a subway train thanks to the claustrophobic interiors.

Now, what are the dangers of overcrowding? They are multiple and the main sources are the omnipresent backpacks, omnipotent paunchies, camouflaged thugs, parasitic smartphone users and other criminals; the last part about criminals we will stop at the end of this article.

You know all too well what backpacks or big bellies do to you during the journey through constant jostling, squeezing, and sometimes nearly crushing you out of breath. Every time this deadly couple combines into one or more travelers, you end up with outward reactions but cursed. In the somewhat weird case of a triplet, a backpack, a big belly, and a thug in one fearsome whole, you’d feel like climbing out of windows, which isn’t entirely possible. Smartphone users are referred to here as ‘parasites’, which is because they always use their bodies for support or worse, to carry out their ‘mandatory’ mobile indulgence. Camouflaged thugs refer to those people who seem harmless and peaceful enough, but at opportune moments they push you, shove you, elbow you mercilessly just to get into their ‘supposed’ comfortable standing space. Unfortunately, these bullies even include some of the respected senior citizens who show incredible dexterity in getting to their reserved seats or standing in front of those seats for the next opportunity to sit down. And, if you make the cardinal mistake of commenting on their ‘activities’, you’ll be drawn into a furious debate for the rest of your trip.

Then there are also additional dangers that invariably happen during your fight. The cell phone of the person shoulder to shoulder with you invariably rang, and the person inevitably answered. He would howl into the phone to overcome the built-in noise and, indeed, the screams would attack his hapless ears relentlessly; to make matters worse, the ‘call’ will last for the rest of his trip. He would try to move his head to the right or to the left, or try to stretch his neck up; but there is no help at all for you. During the summer, the smell of sweat is a distinct disadvantage for many ‘sensitive’ travelers and is unavoidable. However, sometimes the smell turns into a stench in a short time, and invariably it does too. The person with the half-sleeved shirt pressed shoulder-to-shoulder toward you would suddenly raise their arm to grab the metal bar above for safety. Your nostrils would be cruelly exposed to the huge hole created by the action. Again, he would desperately try to move his face to the right or left and stretch his neck up; but there is absolutely no help available to beat the stench. He would rightly like to include such people in the category of ‘other criminals’.

There is a very powerful danger lurking in every overcrowded space; it can happen at any time taking everyone off guard in most of the occasions. I personally advise you to expect this of yourself on all your future travels from now on; anywhere, not just on crowded public transport; however, in claustrophobic interiors, as we mentioned earlier, this could be deadly. Well, you’re smart enough to guess it already. Trapped in overcrowded spaces, it makes you boil with rage, wanting to yell or hit the offender; to make matters worse, the stench lingers in the closed air for an intolerably long time. As a preventative measure, such as in cases of smoking or spitting, you might think of putting a ‘farting strictly prohibited’ disclaimer; however, this crude use could seriously damage the finer sensibilities of travelers. So it could be as simple as ‘gases strictly prohibited’, which everyone will understand with the intended meaning even though the word has other connotations. But the problem is bound to persist, because so far there is no proven methodology for discovering and pinning such criminals.

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