Three Beautiful Things Thursday: Subway Platforms

Posted on November 2, 2006 by hijabman

Inspired by Yasmine, I’ve decided to make Thursday the day I recount three beautiful things. Today Ive chosen just two, because one includes a ridiculous video that I must share.

1. During the last year of my undergraduate degree, I made it so that I only had classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As a result, my four day weekends were spent traveling to Boston. Fortunately for me, a professor of mine would do the same, and she happened to be my ride. She would drop me off near Harvard Square. From there, I jumped on the T (Boston’s Public Transportation System) over to Kendall Square, where AzamHussain lived. While my stays at AzamHussains were full of adventure, doughnuts, tikki cholay from Punjabi Dhabba, and listening to the sounds of a sarod and harmonium, there was something else that attracted me to Boston every weekend. With no offense intended to my wonderful company, one of my favorite parts of Kendall Square was the T station at Kendall Square, right before a train came by.

Kendall Square station is particularly lovable because of it’s musical instruments. Huh? Musical Instruments in a subway station? Yup. There are gigantic chimes in between the tracks and a lever on both platforms. If you pull the lever hard enough, you can get them to sing their songs.

From what I understand, there is also a giant gong you can play by pulling on another lever and a third toy that sounds like thunder (a sheet of metal vibrating between cables). The sound of those chimes = beautiful thing. (photo by Jessica R.

2. One day while getting lost in New York, I was standing at the subway platform when a band began playing “Sexual Healing.” Suddenly, there was a spontaneous dance party on the platform. Complete strangers taking part in what I view as a celebration of one’s body and well, shakin’ what God gave ya. In DC, the same thing happened a few days ago this time with a big jam band in Dupont circle. Homeless people were dancing with housewives, kids, black people, white people, brown people. It was beautiful. And what is more beautiful is that I’m not the only one that feels this way. Just the other day I found a video by Sharif Murphy here. Make sure to watch it till the end.

A man dances to his own beat on the L in Chicago. Sharif adds some music, reminds us of God, and how it’s the little things (that are actually big things) that make us grateful- like a man celebrating the body that was given to him. And so you ask:

Can I get an alhamdulillah?

You know I’d never refuse.

Alhamdulillah