The lifeline of Mumbai

I came across this website: http://lifeinmumbai.co.in and this article: http://lifeinmumbai.co.in/238/. It is a wonderful article and thought I should share.

A Deathline Or A Lifeline

Shata1 commentDescriptive, Funny, Media, Photos

JUN29

Mumbai local trains, It’s a complete package of entertainment, Mumbaikars hate it, love it, curse it, & care for it. I’m speaking about The Mumbai Local, the life line & the death line of Mumbai. Half of the Mumbai crowd travels in mumbail local trains. Every train commuter knows it very well that the Mumbai Local Train holds a prominent place in his/her life. Every Mumbaikar has a super unique bonding with The Mumbai Local.Push, pull, run, shout, abuse, snatch or jump or do anything possible but get inside the train. This is what The Mumbai Local offers to its commuters. The Mumbai Local train easily becomes one of the most fascinating part of every commuter and one learns & builds up the required bonding with The Mumbai Local very easily. Mumbai teaches everything & so does The Mumbai Local.

You find various types of daily commuters, But every commuter rants one same thing the moment he steps inside the train… “Bhai aage jaa na.. darwaje pe kyu khada hai..?” (Brother, go inside the train.. why are you standing near the door of the train compartment..?) No matter the train is over-crowded or empty, you will hear this line repeatedly. People unintentionally tend to advise or scold the co-commuters and the reason for this ranting is the frustration they suffer & carry in their daily lives.

Some commuters just shout at others, some of them just laugh at others. Some commuters keep reading the never ending newspapers & some commuters plug in their ear phones to play some music. You will find a group of students discussing about exams or planning for a mass bunk.

Some commuters sleep, some commuters sing a song & travel their way to their own dream world. Some chant God’s name, some abuse. Some commuters talk cricket or politics & some keep their mouths shut. Some commuters just sit back & watch whats happening around.

The most interesting people you find in the train are the one who have become part of an undesired friendship & bonding with the co-commuters & the bonding between them is so strong & awesome that these groups of people compose songs / lyrics of their own. They create music with the plastic bottles which sound like the Tabla instrument. Some create music by banging their tiffin boxes, some bang their hands on the outer side of the compartment, while some talented guys have the ability of making different vocal sounds. Let me share an experience :
One of the groups I came across was the group that boarded the local at CST. They were about 8-10 guys singing their way to the glory.

The song started as soon as the train started at CST. I was travelling from CST to Thane. Believe me, it was one of the most lovable & memorable time of my life. They took us through the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s era of Indian Bollywood. The songs & the music was so pleasing to hear. Then suddenly, one of them started singing a song of his own. Well that guy was great. All the commuters present in the compartment were having a good time inspite of their stressful day in the office.

You make so many “Hi-Bye friends”. You make some friends with whom you just exchange a smile every day. You make some friends with him you shake hand every day.You sometimes end up your day meeting your old friend in the same compartment or on the platform.

There are a few commuters who keep reading the advertisements bills sticked inside in train compartment walls which promise to uncover your future life with their astroligic power. You will find names like Joshi Pundit Baba, RamKunj Baba & few other computerized Babas.(no offence)

Another interesting and exciting stuff is that some commuters chant “Ganapati Bappa Morya.. Mangal Moorti Morya” when train arrives Dadar station & “Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai” when train approaches CST. Some people keep on shooting a video of whatever happens in the train so that they can share it. While some like me keenly observe the happenings so that they can write an article like this. Hahahah 

Stuffs like, Fights, robbery, violence, never ending phone calls, bomb blasts, hawkers, dabbawalas, Mumbai Police under-cover agents and many many more interesting things happen in The Mumbai Local which you and me will never ever even think about.

The worst things happen in train. But even the bomb blasts have not been able to break the bonding that has been developed between the commuters & the train over the period of years. May be we do not have any other choice but to use The Mumbai Local for moving from one place to another, but we still risk our lives to travel in The Mumbai Local every day. Proud to be a Mumbaikar!

If you are a daily commuter, I hope that I have been able to create a small picture in your mind where in you have seen one of the unknown commuters whom you meet almost every day.

Thanks a ton for reading. Please share if you liked it.

Regards