No doubt they are called the lifeline of Mumbai. I would say, they are also the timeline of Mumbai office-goers, students & businessmen. There are soooo manyyyy of them, and they travel thousands of kilometres every day. They work almost 20 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. They are fast, frequent, punctual & extremely economical. They have reservations for women (albeit not 33%), for Senior citizens, for milkmen & fish-sellers, and indeed they have a first class.
If you still haven’t guessed, the description & the adjectives are all for the Mumbai Local Trains. For someone who is a Mumbai localite, or has stayed there for some time, it might seem pretty normal & taken-for-granted. But for a newbie like me, traveling in a local train in Mumbai is an altogether different, sometimes complicated & definitely unforgettable experience. The journey, the rush, the train routes, the split second timings & the ultimate result (convenience & time-saving), all of these are simply unbelievable.
I had to go to Mumbai on many occasions in the last 2 months, and I had some very interesting experiences while traveling in Mumbai Local Trains. Some of them are narrated below :
Characters
Me – Me
A & S – My friends who are Mumbai localites
& a surprise entry in the end….
Incident 1 :
One of my first journeys in the local trains.
I got into one already overfull compartment. (All other compartments were ALSO overfull, so didn’t actually have a choice.)
The moment I get hold of the pillar & place a foot on the train, it starts.
30 seconds later : I’m still trying to get my second foot (which is still hanging in air) on a firm base.
45 seconds later : Both my feet are ON the train floor, but I’ve lost hold of the pillar !(which is the very end of the compartment, and I suffer the risk of falling down ).
60 seconds later : The train has caught speed (felt like 60 kph +), and I’ve managed to get hold of a latch, overhead (ya.. with both my feet on terra firma, now..)
90 seconds later : A fellow passenger asks me my destination & I say “Churchgate”. He frowns, and says – “Abe, to yahaan kyo khadaa hai, ander jaa na.” I religiously obey him, and start trying to find a way inside.
2 minutes later : I’m still struggling to get inside, but have made a considerable breakthrough. Am almost halfway !
2.5 minutes later : A station is arriving in 30 seconds and some people are rushing towards the gate (from where I entered). And I … alas ….am in their way.
3 minutes later : The station has come. Some 8-10 people get down. Another 20 hop in. (No matter how many are already stuffed inside a compartment, there’s always space for innumerable people, somehow !). I have been ruthlessly pushed aside, inside, forward and backward & have completely lost control over the movement of my own body ! But, as a result, I have reached the other end of the compartment, & near the second gate from where I have to get down in another 2 minutes or so. Exactly where I am supposed to be !!
Such meticulous passengers & acute logistics management, to be found only & exclusively @ Mumbai Local Trains.…
To be continued……
If you still haven’t guessed, the description & the adjectives are all for the Mumbai Local Trains. For someone who is a Mumbai localite, or has stayed there for some time, it might seem pretty normal & taken-for-granted. But for a newbie like me, traveling in a local train in Mumbai is an altogether different, sometimes complicated & definitely unforgettable experience. The journey, the rush, the train routes, the split second timings & the ultimate result (convenience & time-saving), all of these are simply unbelievable.
I had to go to Mumbai on many occasions in the last 2 months, and I had some very interesting experiences while traveling in Mumbai Local Trains. Some of them are narrated below :
Characters
Me – Me
A & S – My friends who are Mumbai localites
& a surprise entry in the end….
Incident 1 :
One of my first journeys in the local trains.
I got into one already overfull compartment. (All other compartments were ALSO overfull, so didn’t actually have a choice.)
The moment I get hold of the pillar & place a foot on the train, it starts.
30 seconds later : I’m still trying to get my second foot (which is still hanging in air) on a firm base.
45 seconds later : Both my feet are ON the train floor, but I’ve lost hold of the pillar !(which is the very end of the compartment, and I suffer the risk of falling down ).
60 seconds later : The train has caught speed (felt like 60 kph +), and I’ve managed to get hold of a latch, overhead (ya.. with both my feet on terra firma, now..)
90 seconds later : A fellow passenger asks me my destination & I say “Churchgate”. He frowns, and says – “Abe, to yahaan kyo khadaa hai, ander jaa na.” I religiously obey him, and start trying to find a way inside.
2 minutes later : I’m still struggling to get inside, but have made a considerable breakthrough. Am almost halfway !
2.5 minutes later : A station is arriving in 30 seconds and some people are rushing towards the gate (from where I entered). And I … alas ….am in their way.
3 minutes later : The station has come. Some 8-10 people get down. Another 20 hop in. (No matter how many are already stuffed inside a compartment, there’s always space for innumerable people, somehow !). I have been ruthlessly pushed aside, inside, forward and backward & have completely lost control over the movement of my own body ! But, as a result, I have reached the other end of the compartment, & near the second gate from where I have to get down in another 2 minutes or so. Exactly where I am supposed to be !!
Such meticulous passengers & acute logistics management, to be found only & exclusively @ Mumbai Local Trains.…
To be continued……
Hilllllarious !! You leave me wanting for more.
ReplyDeletehey yo style guy
ReplyDeleteim a newbie to ur blog tooo
funny nice post
u make it possible for me to know there are worse things when compared to the state buses in hyderabad...im thankful im not traveling in a mumbaiyya train now :D
and thanks so much for ur comment..no one has ever praised my blog so much at one go
keep blogging
i had the priviledge of travellin in da lifeline couple of times n i agree w evry single wrd u wrote...glad we both made it thru :D
ReplyDeleteGuess someone's picked up the IDEA up from here and presented it to the filmmaker, in a bid to get this novel IDEA proclaimed to be 'original'. No wonder now we get to see hoardings and pics of "Ek Chalis Ki Local Train". Now, this is just an anticipation, in case the story unfolds in a way other than this. Quite inspiring, I must say.....U definitely are an agile multitasker dude...
ReplyDelete