A rare, meeting-free Monday in the Metro channel allowed commuters to gain time but it left Bipin Modak and Muhammad Mir Alam counting their losses.

“Aajke-r din ta boro kharap (Today is a very bad day),” rued Modak, his eyes scanning the almost deserted 70-metre stretch of road that turns into a traffic-stopper every time a handful of activists converge on the area with banners and flags.

Modak, 40, is a tea vendor who thrives on these meetings. “I barely make Rs 50-60 over an entire afternoon if there is no meeting here. On days when there is an event, I earn around Rs 200 in three hours,” said Dum Dum-based Modak, who supports a family of six.

Ditto for Mir Alam, a 28-year-old paan and cigarette vendor from Moulali whose earnings depend on the size of the gathering at the city’s most popular protest spot.

Modak and Mir Alam are, however, a minority. For every two “victims” of an uneventful day at the Metro channel, there are thousands who wish it remains like that every day.

But ask Mir Alam, the sole breadwinner of a family of eight, about his “profit” coming at the cost of inconvenience to many others and he hits the argument for a six. “Eta gareeb manusher jibikar prashna, dada. Aapni ki bujhben? (It’s a question of the livelihood of the poor. How will you understand?).”

For Modak, the best memories of Metro channel are of the big rally days like July 21, when 10 lakh Trinamul supporters choked the city centre in commemoration of Martyrs’ Day.

Both Modak and Mir Alam root for rallies, but they do have different “political identities”. Mir Alam is a Trinamul supporter who dreams of “Didi (Mamata Banerjee)” becoming chief minister while Modak is a Left backer who is hoping that the “paribartaner hawa (winds of change)” will change direction before the 2011 poll.

Either way, the run-up to the elections means rallies, and the more the merrier for Modak and Mir Alam.