I am and will always remain in love with Mumbai. And also with the Mumbai Local. when my outstation friends ask me what is my most preferred mode of transport in the city, my answer without any hesitation is the local. And over the past 7-8 years... my experiences in the local have grown diverse...
I generally keep to myself in the train.. except the occasional purchase or two, i genrally dont fight for a seat or get into an argument with anyone... but this one time, it was morning.. and there was a group of women singing bhajaans and shlokas in the morning.. and all those were the type every kid in an indian household would no.. so even I started humming them along and i must admit i felt so good about it... to this day, i dont have any 'train friends' cuz i dont commute regularly... but that one time, it made me realise, its that community feeling and that bonding which is so strong in our families.. that morning no one was fighting in the train, all people around were simply humming the bhajaans.. kids, elderly women, young professionals, the lady who is selling some wares.. everyone was smiling.. ad it made me smile.. how deeply rooted is the Indian in us...
Another time, I was in the train with a few friends... we were in the gents compartment and there were some 'street-kids' with us in the train... and in our compartment was an old man with small square pieces of paper.. and that old man's hands were simply magic... turns out he was a master at origami and made stuff like talking lips, a flower and leaf, a pencil and things beyond imagination!! It was simply amazing!! the kids were in awe and so were we... he ended up teaching us how to make the talking lips... when that man left, he gave me a whole bunch of papers to make stuff... I must've made a dozen of those lips till now.. and even to this day, that incident makes me smile..
Locals may be crowded and tiring but they are also fast, convenient, available most of the times in the day and reliable. but more than anything else, they amaze me every time with something new making me realize I am just a small character in this big drama called Life!! It makes sure i meet new people and it makes sure i rarely have a boring travel time.. it gives me my space and gives me company when i'm alone. it makes me feel human and helps me relish this life some more. To anyone who has ever smiled in the local, you know what I mean.
I generally keep to myself in the train.. except the occasional purchase or two, i genrally dont fight for a seat or get into an argument with anyone... but this one time, it was morning.. and there was a group of women singing bhajaans and shlokas in the morning.. and all those were the type every kid in an indian household would no.. so even I started humming them along and i must admit i felt so good about it... to this day, i dont have any 'train friends' cuz i dont commute regularly... but that one time, it made me realise, its that community feeling and that bonding which is so strong in our families.. that morning no one was fighting in the train, all people around were simply humming the bhajaans.. kids, elderly women, young professionals, the lady who is selling some wares.. everyone was smiling.. ad it made me smile.. how deeply rooted is the Indian in us...
Another time, I was in the train with a few friends... we were in the gents compartment and there were some 'street-kids' with us in the train... and in our compartment was an old man with small square pieces of paper.. and that old man's hands were simply magic... turns out he was a master at origami and made stuff like talking lips, a flower and leaf, a pencil and things beyond imagination!! It was simply amazing!! the kids were in awe and so were we... he ended up teaching us how to make the talking lips... when that man left, he gave me a whole bunch of papers to make stuff... I must've made a dozen of those lips till now.. and even to this day, that incident makes me smile..
Locals may be crowded and tiring but they are also fast, convenient, available most of the times in the day and reliable. but more than anything else, they amaze me every time with something new making me realize I am just a small character in this big drama called Life!! It makes sure i meet new people and it makes sure i rarely have a boring travel time.. it gives me my space and gives me company when i'm alone. it makes me feel human and helps me relish this life some more. To anyone who has ever smiled in the local, you know what I mean.
