Next station Dadar…

The guy sitting next to me was nodding away peacefully. May be it had been a very tiring day for him and this was a valuable opportunity to get some rest and solitude. The guy sitting next to this guy was reading a newspaper and his face had the expression as if he was running the entire country.  Three guys sitting on the opposite seats were all busy in their smartphones with the headphones plugged into their ears.   What am I saying?! Solitude in Mumbai trains? Reading newspapers in a local train? Oh ya! It was 11 pm in the city of dreams and the trains were breathing easy as it was not the peak hour crowd.

Usually the second class of the Mumbai trains is a sight similar to a rugby field (minus the field).  Usually there is hardly any space to do anything at all.  I have ditched this mode of transport since the last few months and it was only on advice of a good friend that I decided not to travel in the yellow-and-black today (since I was not driving) and took the train.  Driving on the roads of Mumbai is not always a pleasant experience but boarding a train during peak hours in the morning with a laptop sack on the back deserves nothing less than an Olympic Gold.  On the days that I drive to office and back, inside my car it is silent (except the incessant honking), cosy (except the bumpy roads full of moon-like craters) and when travelling with friends it also allows some stopovers for Mumbai street food.

But, I must admit I am feeling nostalgic and that I love trains.  It is a whole world running on the tracks across the length of this district and beyond.  Let me share with you what these iron rakes carry with them everyday and all day long.  After every railway station the recorded voice announces in three languages “Next station….” By the way Dadar is the common station for both the Western and Central railway lines and therefore probably the station that sees a lot more activity than any other.

The day usually begins very early in the morning, very early when the vegetable vendors load their sacks in the luggage compartment.  If you board a local train anytime around 6 am you will notice that finding a place to sit is a challenge although you can stand comfortably.   You will always find people sitting or standing and reading prayer books of different religions and those printed in different languages.  They are all sitting next to each other and peacefully praying to please the Almighty.   As the morning progresses we see students heading to high schools and colleges.

All this peaceful and calm travelling lasts probably for an hour or so and then it is time for the frenzy.  As the peak hours start, the crowds get larger and increasingly desperate to get in and stay in the train (many-a-times hanging outside the door).  Almost every train has people singing out loud praises to God, these groups are usually in the first compartment (this seems to be an unwritten rule).  Almost every compartment will have enthusiastic group singers who sing Hindi movie songs every morning.  Many groups take turns to carry some breakfast or quick bites to munch on while taking this trek towards their workplace.  There are also specific groups which play cards everyday on the way to office and then again on their way back to home.

The afternoons are more sedate and a lot of older people prefer travelling during this time of the day. The evening usually sees the huge working mass heading homewards.  On the way back to home the trains are witness different activities now.  Many working woman switch their roles and now start chopping and peeling vegetables while on their way home.  You will also see some women and men reading and trying to finish up some work on the way.  I remember reading news reports of babies being born in a Mumbai local trains!

The best of the dignitaries pay a visit to the railway stations and take a ride in the Mumbai local trains.  The “dabba-walas”, yes the tiffin carrying guys of Mumbai who have astonished the world with the accuracy rate of their delivery also use these trains.

I would like to close with some statistics, one local train with 12 compartments has a seating of 1,168 passengers and 2,336 passengers, a total of 3,504 passengers, and guess it is believed that they transport about 6,000 passengers at a time!  Consider this, every four minutes one train carrying thousands of people heading for work doing hundreds of different thing.  I was wrong, it is a whole universe in itself!