The Mumbai Local - A Life within the Life.

Image found on Google

Bombay..!! 

Yes, I’m writing on something related to my Mumbai again. Yes.. MY Mumbai :D

Mumbaikars hate it, luv it, curse it, & care for it. I’m speaking about The Mumbai Local, the life line & the death line of Mumbai. 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 & kinds of daily commuters. But every commuter rants 1 same thing the moment he steps inside the train… “Bhai aage jaa na.. darwaje pe kyu khada hai..?” (hey, go inside the train.. why are you standing on the door of the train compartment..?) No matter the train is over-crowded or empty, you will hear this line again & again. 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 SAAMUHIK BUNK..! :P

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.

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 Dombivali. 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 a of his own. Watta funny song it was. All the commuters present in the compartment had a big laugh in spite of their stressful day in the office.

Image found on Google.

 What else happens in The Mumbai Local? People celebrate birthdays.. Yeah..!! You will find a group of students celebrating birthday & sharing cake with the people whom they never knew before. You make so many “Hi-Bye friends”, “Hi5 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. A friend who passes your college bag to you when your station is approaching near and you have to board off the train.

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 Jyotishi power :D :D You will find names like Joshi Pundit Baba, RamKunj Baba & few other computerized Babas :P :P

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 upload it on youtube. While some like me keenly observe the happenings so that they can write an article like this… hahaha :P :P

Many more things happen in the train. Fights, robbery, violence, Multi-Crore deals, buying & selling of shares of a company, never ending phone calls, bomb blasts, hawkers, dabbawalas, Mumbai Police under-cover agents and many many many many more things happen in The Mumbai Local which you and me will never ever even think about.

It’s a gr8 gr8 everyday battle that a Mumbaikar fights & gets used to it very soon. A time comes when the Mumbaikar starts enjoying all this things. The biggest battle within this battle is to sit on the 4^th seat.. hahahaha =)) The person who gets to sit on the 4^th seat is really the greatest warrior of all. You will understand the meaning of this only if you are a commuter of The Mumbai Local.

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.

Hope you liked reading this article. As usual, I’m not checking for the typos & so you have to bear all those typos as usual.. :P :P

Thanks a ton for reading. Please share if you liked it. 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 1 of the unknown commuter whom you meet almost every day. =)

Good Day…!! :-)