Joy Ride

Last fortnight,as Bangalore celebrated the launch of Namma Metro with much pageantry,jubilant crowds — according to estimates,50,000-strong — gathered to witness the inaugural celebrations at the Manekshaw Parade Ground behind the Mahatma Gandhi Road station,where the eastern line begins. The depot was a flower-decked tribute to a much-awaited project,each kilometer of which has come at a staggering cost of

Rs 274 crore. A ride on the grey-and-pink train costs Rs 15 for a seven-km stretch,covered in minutes on an elevated track that winds through some of the busiest parts of central Bangalore.

On that first train at 4 pm,plying between MG Road and Byappanahalli,a father rang up his child to describe his experience as “awesome”; a teenager in a football jersey live-blogged on his netbook; a bunch of retired government employees oohed and aahed at the glossy interiors; people beamed at each other and at cameras. In a city that has come to be defined by change in the last two decades,the Metro has added another layer — one that could make travel fun.