A Era that ended...

As I sit today on a calm Thursday morning, sipping my coffee and reading newspaper and lazing around...I like the happy feeling that is surging through me...yes its Thursday and I am chilling coz its a mid week holiday...thank you Gandhiji for being born on October 2!

I ponder over the last 4 months and the tough times that have molded me, taught me, troubled me and changed me as an individual. I am definitely working in a fantastic profile...like a dream come true...but a lil part of me feels like missing the time that WAS. Moving on was a well thought out decision, but Nostalgia has been an old friend of mine...

I remembered about my time before I made a job switch almost 5 months ago.... and what I most remembered was my journey to and fro which made up a very memorable travel experience...

A typical day started with catching the 8:07 local train or even 8:14 (on lazy mornings). The train timings are typical to Mumbai and never rounded off to the nearer 5 or 10...I wonder why! Anyways, travelling by ladies first class to Churchgate was a comfort. A male friend had once remarked that the ladies first class compartment of a Churchgate bound local usually had the best looking women, elegantly dressed and expressing style, status and confidence. He is quite correct!

I can almost feel the corporate blood throbbing through my veins as I get off each day at 9am at Churchgate station among a pool of thousands trotting away to mint money!!!

Queuing up outside the station at a special share-a-cab booth meant exclusively for lady passengers traveling to Nariman Point ( Asia’s largest business district) was remarkable. I'd observe women indulge into catfights for the coveted front seat for cab ride or scuttle around to run into cabs during heavy rains...! And then out comes Rs.6. 50, the modest cab fare and probably just a sole dialogue addressing the wild cabbie 'Bhaiya, Nariman Bhavan jana hai.' Sit back, relax and enjoy the 5 minute cab ride along Marine Drive, with lemony tar breeze blowing from the vast expanse of the ocean on the right hand side and a series of hotels, restaurants and eateries on the left hand side. One such nice cozy place, Pizzeria, with sea facing tables, glass windows and vintage furniture is my personal favorite. It also has unique slogans written on the banner above it, which change every week and are visible to any passing car. A couple of interesting and situational slogans that pop up in my mind are - ' Too much of anything harms. Including Cricket.' during the T20 fever and then there was another one around the same time - ' Recommended: Cheerleaders at the Parliament to improve attendance!' Witty, sassy and sarcastic - these would almost always make me chuckle as I deciphered the wise messages they sought to convey.

Reaching the office building was not the end of the battle. One more queue for the office elevator, a necessity given that most buildings were 20-30 storeyed and my office was on the 14th! This is an aspect very distinct to Mumbai - QUEUES for almost anything & everything - a queue-o-mania of sorts!

Heading back home was also an event in itself. I had to travel back again in the peak hours i.e. post 6 pm. I usually picked up a Jumbo vada-pav, sukha bhel, samosa or a lil brown packet of popcorn (without minding the hygiene) as my food partner for the long journey. It was fascinating to see people clamor and pile like ants into trains that approached the various platforms of Churchgate, even before they reached a complete halt! Most of these trains were bound for Borivali and Virar so all the long distance travelers almost had an hour or even a couple of hours to spend in the train and hence catching seats like in school buses and managing a 4th seat was hugely like a well accomplished task!

Its strange how hundreds of men stuffed within a single General compartment almost about to fall off, with barely any space to breathe or even move one hand silently endure the pain and massage! And the ladies 2nd Class compartment is a complete riot in comparision. It is by far the noisiest, bickering and most colorful and eventful compartment of the entire train. A huge lot of people traveling by this one will be married women who are tired after a hard day at work and have thoughts of children’s homework, irritating in-laws, cooking, home issues, etc. on the top of their minds. So naturally the patience levels are low and decibel levels high! ‘ Tumne Dhakka Kyun Maara’….’Tune mera haath kyun kheecha’…..’Chup ho ja…thappad maroongi’ is very natural and usual exchange of words. If you get (un)lucky, you may witness 2 perfectly grown mature ladies ready to pull each other’s hair out and screeching on the top of their voices in order to travel comfortably. You might even spot someone knitting a sweater, another chopping vegetable for the evening, few of them catching on some winks of sleep, some friends bitching about their mother-in-laws and yet another section which religiously chants bhajans as the train zooms by. It is not a surprise then for Mumbai-ites to have their special ‘train’ friends! And if all this is not enough, you can also find, much to your delight, vendors floating past the already difficult to navigate compartment selling their wares ranging from fruits to earrings!

The first class ladies’ compartment on the other hand is much calmer, nicer and tolerable even during such mad rush hours. Here you will find women silently muttering into their cell phones, reading some fancy book, newspaper or fashion magazine, working on laptops and only fighting for fourth seats through tiny exchange of silent irritable expressions of discomfort.

That’s Mumbai train for you – running right through the centre of the city like a lifeline and forming the biggest commuting solution for its residents. No wonder when people move away from Mumbai they miss its transport – coz inspite of the dirt, dinginess, unplanned infrastructure, pollution & ruckus there is hardly any city which comes close to Mumbai in terms of its convenience of interlinked conveyance and easily accessible routes through interwoven modes of transport!