Engineering has taught me enough.....
During the very first days in RAIT when i hadn't shifted to the hostel i was subjected to the torture of Mumbai Local..it was but for once, never again did i complaint..my route was CST-Nerul...a one hour journey straight.Getting to CST from Colaba to be in time for a 7:50 train itself would drain me ... the endless queue would burn out the last nutrient of my breakfast.My learning process began...
Commuting in Mumbai falls into 2 categories for women.
First class travel involves neat,minuscule compartments with well dressed women bearing a plastic smile buried deep into glossy magazines.
Second class... where i laid my foot..apart from other women my companions were eunuchs,beggars,fish vendors and little boys as ear-clip-hanky sellers.There is so much of action,drama,colour in second class travel and one can learn so many lessons on the way.Lessons in time management from working women shelling peas on their way back so as to start cooking immediately after reaching home,architect students balancing their equipments on the paper laid out on their laps to finish the assignment to be in time for their submissions....Athletic skills can be honed by hopping into a moving train and securing a window seat beating others with similar intentions..A millionth of a second is required to cut open a bag and things are passed from one end to the other demonstrating team spirit .....A never say die Mumbaiyya spirit is seen when a garam batawada is shared by friends and young girls trying to accomodate the elderly women....the fluency and speed with which people converse in marathi always kept me glued...the air smells of sweat,perfume,macchi. There are lessons in Psychology,Geography,Management skills and Physical Education all in a 1 hour journey...the local smoothly progresses but the lives of those commuting in it are just bumpy...millions of people,millions of lives,millions of problems all are held behind the faces in the local..travel broadens the mind but commuting in Mumbai offers an all round education....
The one who hasn't had the experience of Mumbai local is really missing out on something great....
4 comments:
ah the locals....i can never grow tired of them.(figuratively..not physically..)
i have read a dozen articles on the locomotives,but evryone puts forth the same points in his/her own unique manner. such posts never cease to put a smile across ur face...
very well written.
waiting for more smiles across my face :)
Better late than never.
This is a gr8 topic to begin with.
Indeed ppl r missing out on something if they haven't travelled in mumbai locals. I m really happy to have been a part of this magnificent network of railways for the past 4 years but i never ever want to be a part of it henceforth :) Just because it drains u out completely.
Divya, u have also unveiled the things happening in the ladies compartment of which i had no idea :)
Gr8 start and keep blogging
so divz u too into this bloggin thing...
u kno hw mch i hate writin comments bt u r one of d few blessed ones who get to hv ma comment.....hehehehe
jokes apart....very well written....reminds me of d gr8 time i hv hd in mumbai....
damn i miss those local trains n d torture v usd to face therein....
newez,keep writin gud stuff n dont xpect ne other comment frm me...lolz
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