Out & About: The Bogor train and New York subway

Tue, 11/18/2008 12:35 PM  |  City

For the first time in my 23 years of existence in Indonesia, I rode the Jakarta-Bogor economy train, thanks to my photojournalism class at Antara news agency.

Together with my classmates we took the train from Kota station. As I tagged my camera along with its bag, I nervously stepped inside one of the cabins. My friend asked a few people to move from the bench so I could squeeze in. While I took the subways of New York frequently, I never had difficulty finding a seat.

As the departure time grew nearer, the cabin got more crowded. Passengers who entered late had to make do with hanging onto the rail above them to avoid falling over. The train was so packed that there was no space for me to stretch my legs out from my seat, as people were leaning on my knees. My only view inside the train was the different colors of shirts and blouses.

The scene reminded me of movies made about the Nazis where hundreds of people were forced inside the small cabins of trains.

I found the Bogor train ride unique because I never got bored or hungry. While the engine ran at almost the same pace as the New York subway, talented beggars boarded with their musical instruments to play some music. One group played my favorite Beatles song, which kept me from dozing off.

After their performance, an empty potato chips bag was passed around for alms before the train stopped at a station. I told myself it was not bad -- the three men sang better than the band that plays at one of the bars in the Grand Hyatt.

As the train made its stopover, the potato-chips man who sells a variety of chips for you to nibble on during the ride slid inside the cabin. Then the water man appeared, selling drinks.

Although chips are available at the stations in New York, passengers are strictly prohibited from eating and drinking inside the cabins. So even if your hunger pangs are knocking inside your stomach, "You gotta wait".

In New York, the view of dirty tiled walls during stopovers doesn't help. Whereas the Bogor train has a view of green grass and temporary markets, giving you a feel or life outside Jakarta.

For a price of Rp 2,500, I got to feel what it was like to live on the line of poverty. For that amount, children had to stand for a grueling two hours in a 35-degree, stuffy and fetid cabin with literally no space to move until they reach their destination, while their mothers patiently try to pacify their aggravation. I felt sorry for the little child as he moaned "cape" (tired). The mother soothingly replied, "sabar sayang, sebentar lagi sampe" (hold on dear, we'll get there soon).

And for the passengers without seats, hanging onto the rail with their eyes shut was the best way to catch up on sleep. It was not that they don't have a choice; there are air-conditioned trains, but can they afford it? The irony is, several of them owned hand phones, but still they preferred clinging onto the rail rather than spending Rp 13,000 for a higher-class train.

I did take pictures finally, as required by my mentor. This time, the similarity between the Bogor train and the New York subway emerged: The passengers who ride the same mode of transportation everyday had the same distraught faces, the same look of pain caused by poverty and stress as they moved on with life with the least amount of money and options.

-- Aruna Harjani

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