Man-cubs, Millipedes

In the station a dirty monkey hunches in the rafters, enjoying bath-time and lunch-time at the same time- the old pick n’ chew. Occasionally throwing a careless glance down to his crazy relatives, the man-cubs and washer-women, the rainbow sari splashes and suitcaseheads, milling like millipedes, busy like ants. Greasy rats crawl through wet corners, and kids-at-work in the station smile bright white through dusty faces, asking for ice cream. Families stacked on suitcase stacks in package circles, sharing nuts and sweets, parked on the dirty floor; babies snore on shoulders as trains roll through on other platforms. Calm before the storm. Hindi, English, hindi, English, the constant loudspeaker updates are indiscernible in any language, but they’re going for quantity, not quality- and then the chai seller’s voice cuts through them all, high and nasal- Chaaii-ii-i!- as he pushes the steel cart between squatting families and forlorn holy men. Finally, the gazelles at the watering hole hear the warning cry, whistle shivers down the track, and entire family clans are on their feet in seconds; lanky porters are already pushing through, huge suitcases on their heads; backpackers are turning this way and that, Is this the right train, is this the right train?! And then a sudden gloom swallows the station as the snake slides in, and jostling groups try to predict where their door will stop. Finally, the whole apparatus sighs and jolts to a halt, and the disembarking passengers start to push from the inside out- they get about forty seconds grace to squeeze themselves out of the coach doors, then it’s toothpaste back into the tube- the mass of sweaty shirts and hairy arms grappling, trying to become liquid as it surges itself up a steel step and through a tiny door. Just put your head down and PUSH! No women first, children follow bread crumbs through the forest of legs, just PUSH, and you pop through the entrance, bag and all, until you’re carried down the human river to your seat. And the monkey in the rafters glances up when the steel snake trundles off, crunches down another bedbug snack.