Its funny how the typical Mumbai-kar(/ite??) goes about his life. I'm someone born and brought up in a small town..well, not so small a town; but here i'm comparing it with Mumbai. Four-five Mumbai suburbs would make up the whole of Bhubaneswar i guess. Ah..sweet home-where it takes precisely 15 minutes from your home to the train station and 10 minutes more to the airport; traffic jams notwithstanding!! Spending three hours on travel everyday??? Unthinkable! Here its more the way of life. I was actually told that I was lucky it took only an hour or so from my home to office.
Okkkk!!
A small word about the local trains. They are the lifeline of this metropoly. On earlier trips, it was always taxis and the odd bus-ride here and there. But when you need to get to your destination bypassing all the traffic and the pot-holed roads..the trains are the best bet. They're quick, cheap and efficient as hell.. The rains do delay them, but not by more than thirty minutes. Period.
It took time adjusting to the routes, the three lines- central, harbour and western, which side of the station the train stops, where the women's compartments were, the train timings, fast and slow locals...
But what initially seemed like a huge juggernaut of people waiting to roll into the already crowded trains, slowly began making sense. The cool breeze that hit the face when the train crossed the creek was rejuvenating to say the least. It wasn't a completely rosy picture; but i stopped hating the train journeys sometime during the first week itself.
The smell of jasmine tied up in the hair of many a damsel was sweet but got too suffocating for comfort when the person in question stood not 5 inches away..
The eunuchs who came in asking for money made me squirm in discomfort and feel sorry for them all at once...
Beggars asked me for money twice at the very least on every journey...
Kids barely old enough to walk, sang and danced in the moving train for a measly tip which to them was a princely sum.. a whole gamut of performances took place in the space of one hour.
Vegetables, cosmetics, flowers, fruit, lingerie, electronic goods..you name it and hawkers sell it on the train. A taken-for-granted convenience for some who had no time for shopping elsewhere and a pain in the posterior for others who chose to look elsewhere and hold their dignified noses up high...
As for me, my Mumbai sojourn continues..I rush into the same crowded compartments everyday..then rush again to grab my favourite place which is not a seat; 'cause that my friend is a luxury which only people who board the train at the starting station can enjoy.My destination is a place by the door which gives me a glimpse of the chawls, the multirises, the bustling markets, the posh bungalows, the creek, the boats and the fishermen all at once..
Nowadays, I get dropped by my uncle on his way to work in the morning, so i take the train only once a day.. but hey!!! I ain't complaining :D