Mumbai local trains : Life inside a Mumbai suburban local train

The words "adjustment" and "struggle" draw inspiration from the morning travails in a local train in mumbai.

800 people crammed into every corner of a single coach built for 200 people is actually a tribute to the build quality of the indian railways. Its not as crowded though when the local train begins its journey. As time and stations pass the coach gets filled surprisingly fast. A completely filled coach appears as a maze of hands clinging on to the railings above as the Mumbai local train itself moves towards its destination completely oblivious to the ghettos its harboring. Inside, its a sea of humanity brimming from the open doors of the Mumbai Suburban local trains. To be honest the only space for people to stand is on the outside (you need to see for yourself what the "outside" means) and people have actually mastered that art.

There are people everywhere you look, people standing between the seats, along the passage, along the sides of the entrance, people at the entrance waiting to get down and of course the people standing outside! Among this melee of hands, legs and baggage the original inhabitants, the people who have the privilege to sit on the benches are an overwhelming minority. They enjoy their own freedom from the surrounding struggle by indulging into some reading - mostly catching up on the newspaper headlines, or listening to music on the latest necessity of the middle class - the mobile phone, or for those in the company of friends or colleagues nothing like talking about things from politics at work to family problems with hundreds of people privy to the conversation at all times! Talk about indians being secretive about private lives!

Among all these people the real achievers are those who have captured the window seat in the local train. Its a seat that even a politician would envy. Capturing a window seat requires all the skills required to win a gold at olympics in any contact sport. It requires speed, quick reflexes, power, strategy and a dash of luck.

Standing people naturally envy the ones sitting by the window and are always on the look out for an opportunity to plant themselves by the window the moment they get a hint of movement from the guy sitting. Even though this may mean the person getting up faces unnecessary hardship its a necessary evil to avoid the person next to the window person from stealthily sliding towards the window.

Normally its an unwritten rule that the person shouldnt slide to the window seat and maintain his position but there are exceptions. And when there is such conflict of interests and both parties are equally game for a scuffle , all hell breaks looks.

Who wins the seat is ultimately decided by not the "dog in the fight but the fight in the dog" (no pun intended). And they happily sit next to each other for the rest of the journey as if nothing happened. All this while the standing people chuckle away at the momentary deviation from normalcy and hope it continues till their station arrives. No one wants to miss out on a good fight you see!

Not everyone is affected by this din though. There are people who attain "Nirvana" as soon as they enter the compartment of the train and what ever happens till the train reaches its destination doesnt affect these guys. They are one with their inner self. The ways to attain this is different though. Some resort to the open mouth sleeping technique. this convinces the people around that he badly needs some sleep and people being sympathetic offer all cooperation so as not to break his slumber. At such times you can even rest your head on the shoulder of the person next to.

Some resort to reading newspapers since the only time to read is available in the train. Some plug in to their ipods/mobiles/mp3 players and listen away. Some who dont have headphones instead of doing the selfish act of buying those, blare the song at full volume so as others can appreciate the choice of music.

All this while the people standing outside take the sights,sounds and smells along the journey. Yoy better be a toughie to the core to handle the stuff mumbai dishes all along the track.
So long till the next post.