Mumbai Local....A Way of Life...

“Bhai saab, Dadar jane wali train kaunse platform pe aathi hai?” prompt reply “platform 2 pe chale jayiye, Platform theen pe fast train miljayagi.”…”Thanks” ,I kicked myself, I should have asked that pretty lady in caprices, wearing a nice white lace woven top, cursing myself, I start towards the footbridges which transfers you to array of platform where local trains ferry millions of passengers every day cross Mumbai.

It’s been just a week since I started traveling in Mumbai local, and it has been a tremendous experience. You love the experience or hate every sec of it, but you still travel on Mumbai local. You don’t have to wait much since the trains are just couple min apart and always on time. “Platform 2 per churchgate jane wali deemi local aa rahi hai, ye train sabhi station per rukagi”. I could see the local slowly coming into the view around the corner at a far off distance with people hanging on the footboard. One look at the train and you can bet your life that getting inside a coke can will be easier than putting your foot inside the train; still I wait patiently like all the other thousands of passengers around me for the train to stop.

The fist thing which attracts your attention if you land in Mumbai for the first time is the sheer number of people around you. Its people people every where. Its much more evident once you land up at the local railway station, it’s an ocean of people, so dense that you will be surprised at the ease and efficiency with which this mammoth traffic is handled by the system on a daily basis. The only other place where I have seen this kind human flow is at Tirupathi temple during Jan-Feb festival season. Mumbai local carries more than 6.1 million passengers on a daily basis and constitutes more than half of the total daily passenger capacity of the Indian Railways itself. It has the highest passenger density of any urban railway system in the world.

I squeezed myself inside, and stood next to a gentleman who was comfortably dressed in an elegant white shirt and dark trouser, he was reading a financial newspaper, and was not even slightly disturbed by my rude entry and submerged himself in the newspaper, i could feel someone pressed against my back, and I was just praying he is straight. “Attention pl, next station is Vile Parle”, more passengers streamed in, a young guy in his mid 20’s was standing little far off with his eyes closed and ear phones plugged in. another gentle man was leaning against the door and reading a Marathi newspaper, another smart looking executive was fiddling with his palmtop, I was struggling to keep myself comfortable and was shifting very often with my laptop bag adding to my problem. Most of my co-passengers around me were looking very comfortable, and are not even slightly disturbed by the chaos around. They are the seasoned travelers and for them traveling in these trains is easier than buying a movie ticket. Ladies compartment is an envy and luxury for all male species, not only because of so many beautiful women around, but also being less crowded than the other compartments.

The first local train service was started way back in 19th century, in the year 1853 between Mumbai and Thane, a 34Km stretch. This is termed as oldest railway network in Asia. Today there are 3 local railway routes in Mumbai, Central, Western and Harbor line. Western being more densely used rail network, which runs through the commercial sector of Mumbai. My travel lasts 25min for a distance of 18KM, which would have cost me 2hrs and Rs.200 if I had traveled by road. Mumbai local is the life line of Mumbai, if Mumbai local comes to a halt, India comes to halt, this has been the prime factor for terrorist to target the railway network couple of times and have succeeded twice.

“ Attention Pl, next station lower parel”, “Bhai saab, parel station kis tharaf atha hai?”, “vus tharaf”, said the young chap pointing his finger towards the door opposite to where I was standing, I started moving towards the door, u need to be as close to the door as possible, you are always in danger of being pushed back inside the train if you are not fast enough to get out. I jumped out of the train as it came to stop; I turned back and saw people trying all there might to get of the train and struggling with people who were trying to get in.

Getting back home would be another episode worth writing about. Coming weeks I think will be able to know which platform to wait for and which side of the train the station is going to come. “Platform 3 per, anderi janewali deemi local aa rahi hai, ye train sabhi station per rukagi”….i need to go, my train is arriving….i brace myself for another superhuman effort to get inside the train….this is my way of life in Mumbai….rather everyone’s…..