Train of thoughts!

Taking a local train in Mumbai can be fun; if you travel only on weekends and at non-peak hours. Last Saturday, the travel house in my horoscope was very active and one certain journey in the evening was particularly enjoyable.

I boarded the train from one of the western suburbs to go to Dadar. This must be about 6:15 pm. I got a place to sit and in the opposite bench, a young, decent looking gentleman took seat. He looked like one of those insurance company sales agents. No sooner was he settled, he took out his flashy mobile and started viewing a video of a Hindi movie song at a loud volume. The song wasn’t all too great and coming through his not-so-great speakers, it was nothing short of screeching sound. Why the hell he didn’t use a headphone? Sometimes, in this great city, I have seen people so oblivious of their surroundings, it is unbelievable. Over the past few years, I have come to believe that civic sense is drastically going down in this city. [This is a topic by itself. Will talk about it some other time.]

The train was reaching Dadar and almost everyone was getting down. The passage near the door was so crowded, I was standing in the aisle between the benches. (How can anyone call them seats?) The person behind me had a shoulder bag. However, he still tried to move himself and his shoulder bag encouraging someone to take the place he vacated. And then with the typical nonchalance of a Mumbaikar said what is probably the most used line in the trains and buses of Mumbai; “Thoda sa to adjust karna padta hai na.” What gives this man this spirit after traveling for about 40 minutes with luggage in a reasonably crowded train?

Getting down at Dadar was another experience. In Mumbai trains, you just stand in the rush and they make sure you get down where you want. It is a free-flowing, zero-gravity ride wherein before you realize that you are moving, you are not only out of the train but also a few yards away from it. I got out like that and then found that the staircase was really packed. Of course, people were moving at a steady pace but you couldn’t help nudging an elbow here and there. I joined the mayhem and mid-way through the stairs, someone yelled; “Chalo Bhai”. Such shouts are meant to ask people to move faster. Now, the stairs were packed and everyone was moving as fast as possible. How can anyone move faster? The same yell again. By this time, I had almost reached the end of the stairs. Just then, I heard the same voice murmur, “Yahan chillao to sab fatafat chalte hain.” [People move faster here if you yell.]. Nobody had really cared for his yells. In fact, even if they had cared, they couldn’t have moved faster. This fellow probably felt people were moving because of his yells. Some illusions people live in!

I think if I traveled in the Mumbai trains with an open eye, I would have enough material to write a book. (Someone might already have; you never know!). I was looking for something to write on this blog and this journey gave me exactly that. I am not a professional writer but to all those who are, here’s a piece of advice: If you ever hit a writer’s block, you can give Mumbai trains a try!