argh.. what a day, and not even noon.

Went to bed early last night... I drifted off to sleep to the sounds of cheering all around. The whole country has succumbed to cricket fever for the first india-pakistan cricket match in more than a decade [with a mother born in india and a father born in pakistan, i am in the unique position of being perfectly happy regardless of the winner. Not understanding cricket also helps.]

I was sound asleep by midnight, when I was awoken by clanging and crunching. They were paving the road outside my window from until 4am. The sounds were mysterious. Grinding, raking, sizzling, shouting, machines. And i'm sure I heard an elephant.

Awake for hours, I finished my emergency supply of mini-snickers bars. Just as well, as they were melting into peanutty-chocolate goo.

I the morning, I went to the station to go to work. The heat is making people crazy... someone did something to the wrong person, and an entire train car emptied out onto the platform to watch a gang beat up a bunch of kids. Trying to reach my train, I dodged around a post and almost walked into a corpulent man kneeing a thin kid in the groin. Then he punched him in the nose.

I went the other way, with the noise (*crunch*grunt*) echoing in my ears.

Feeling sickened, I got on the wrong train and couldn't get off because the crush was an immovable wall. The train stopped on the tracks. There were at least thirty people in the 3 x 6 foot space in front of me. I couldn't turn around, but I could feel the pressure from another thirty, pushing, jostling to get into position so they could get off at the station.

The heat pressed down on us. Sweat dripped into my eyes and i couldn't lift my arm to wipe it away.

Five minutes stretched into eternity.

We started moving... the crowd carried me off the train, up the stairs, over to another train. Past four barely-clothed street kids and a dog sprawled out on the platform, all five fast asleep in the middle of the craziness.

Got to my station. Dust flies heat garbage stares sewage traffic cows.

Hospital and its familiar funny smell. Mothers holding their babies in long lines in the cool darkness.

I have made this trip hundreds of times, and every single time I get to work I feel a sense of immeasurable relief that I made it.

10:42 a.m. - 2004-03-18