I know I know...a post is due on life post-remigration. But this one focusses on only one aspect of it. Having lived in Mumbai for about 11 years before going to US, one of the things that I missed the most was travelling in Ladies II class in a Mumbai local train.Funny as it sounds, it was so soothing and relaxing to be able to finally achieve this feat.
In my first lcoal train journey after moving back, two college students were discussing their assignments and complaining about how one's dad is not allowing her to go on the weekend trip with friends. Not that much time has passed since I passed college, but it was nice to know there are a lot other people who are in the same situation as I was several years back. The two friends were really tensed about this and making schemes to 'manaofy' her dad - bringing a faint smile to my face.
In another journey from Dadar to Borivali, I was amazed at the skills of a fellow passenger on finding out if platform will come on left or right (I am not sure how much will this skill be appreciated by non-Mumbaikars).She calculated this by
1. Looking out hanging from the pole.
2. The signal- I didnt understand this part but she said something about this signal being down and other one being green.
3. Whether there was a Virar local coming on the track on right.
Another very important element of Ladies II class are the vendors who sell earrings, hair clips, pass covers, etc etc. There was a middle-aged lady selling hair clips. She had a daughter about 8-9 years assisting her. As the mother sat down on one of the empty seats (it was about 10 pm) tired by the day's work, the little girl picked up the box of goodies and started shouting "aye buckle le.." The expression on the mother's face changed to that of a proud parent seeing her child stepping into her shoes.
It is very interesting to observe different strata of people (to be precise, women) doing really odd things - cutting vegetables for next day, making weekend plans, knitting a sweater, doing makeup, playing antakshari, discussing about movies,husbands,in-laws and what not.
Truly, local trains are the LIFEline of Mumbai. They do not just transport lacs of people everyday to and fro. People spend a major portion of their LIFE in these trains. It gives you an opportunity to observe LIFE from several different perspectives.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
The whole post brought a lot of smiles to me as well! I'm happy to know that you are having fun in India. Take care! :)
:) :)
You don't know how to read signals to identify the platform? shame on you! :P Basically, you can find out which track the train will cross to from the signal...but I won't blame you, there are hardly any options on harbour line :-)
Post a Comment