The Train-Thief Operating Model

Hypothetically, if you are considering a career as a train-thief, what model would you use? 
- A simple case of pick-pocketing from the back?
- Use a weapon to scare and/or intimidate? 
- The whole run-and-smash-into-a-bystander-and-steal?

But (and what a huge But it is!) what if you are claustrophobic and can't stand the train crowd?
Well then, there is a new model of stealing, where you don't have to be technically in the train to do your job. 
Take this case for example.

A fishing rod may be a one-off case, but the concept itself is not. Let me elaborate.
A stretch of my train journey is well-known for such weird-thieving attacks. Since this stretch happens to be a few minutes before I have to get down, I inadvertently end up getting a prime viewing spot. So, in a span of around 4-5 months, I have been a bystander in two attacks: 

1. Attack 1: Train starts decelerating with the oncoming of the next stop. Girl standing next to the door and playing a game on phone. One hitherto-unseen guy sitting quietly on top of the train throws a well-aimed rock at her hand. Phone is dropped in shock Guy jumps down, picks it up and runs.
2. Attack 2: Speeding train. Girl standing next to the door listening to music on phone. She idly wonders why a man is standing on a lamp-post right next to the rails. As her bogie approaches the post, his hand shoots out. By the time she realises what has happened, the train has sped by, and she is left phone-less.

These incidents are very interesting, not just because of the method of stealing, but because of the reactions it generates in the train. There are, broadly, four categories:

• Wise Ass: The middle-aged women who give advice on not using the phone while standing next to the train and not to hang at the train door. Some random ones rant on mobile phones being the bane of our existence.
• Angry Ass: These hurl abuses at the thieves, which end up resonating inside the compartment, cracking a few ear-drums. ("M***ch*d!!", "Suar ki Dum", "S**le", "AAAAEEEE").
• Curious Ass: Wondering at the reaction (or lack thereof) in the victim. Take this Overheard conversation between two ladies as an example:

"She was in shock, Bechari"."Yes, losing a phone like this"."What else could she do, cry in public?""She will go home and cry"."I am sure."

• Amused Ass: I think that's just me.

The biggest driver for women wanting to marry

India will have women marrying at a younger age, and hopefully will agree to an arranged one too, much to the relief of parents.
Why you ask? Because of Tanishq of course. They have embarked on a beautiful and well-thought of campaign:
A highly ambitious and successful girl is adamant on not marrying, despite her dad's pleadings to at least consider the case of this really nice guy he has chosen for her. The mother, looks on scornfully, until she asks her daughter to stop the car and enters Tanishq, the jewellery shop. She makes her daughter try on all the jewellery making her look, well, bride-like. When the mother realises that it was wedding jewellery, she asks her daughter to take them off, making the girl very sad and almost on the verge of tears. She decides immediately what needs to be done. Hestitantly and shy-like, she asks her father, "What is the boy's name?"
The mother sends a smug sms to the father - After 25 years of marriage, yous till don't know what a woman wants.

It was enlightening to say the least. 20-something old girls need nothing more than gold, silver and diamond jewellery to be happy. For a vulnerable, malleable and underdeveloped mind like ours, jewellery is the key (and perhaps the only) criteria for getting married.
I hope its a series. The next best thing would be an ad on how women are ready to have children, considering the amount of jewellery they will get to wear on the child's first birthday.