The first time I sat in the local train alone was when I was going to
my cousin’s place in Santa Cruz. I stood in line for the usual what felt like
eighteen hours, and got the ticket from Thane to Santa Cruz. They told me that
there would be a lot of rush and that I couldn’t even get in, leave alone get a
seat et cetera, the usual stories that are associated with train travelling
experience of Mumbai. I caught a ‘dheemi’ local to CST, and to my surprise, got
in easily, and got a place to sit too. The train started and I was a bit
confused, because people had warned me to wait for the next train if there was
too much of a rush. There were a few people around, but one couldn’t exactly
call it a rush. Fortunately for me, a person noticed my yellow ticket and asked
whether I was travelling using that ticket. As things turned out, I was a
ticket less traveller in the first class compartment. I am now a criminal.
Fortunately, I was able to get off in Mulund, against the flow of the
people, and then I saw why all their warnings made perfect sense. All the
things that I had heard were not half able to describe what it actually was
like. I had to catch the next train, and when I was in, I found that someone’s
elbow was in my gut, someone’s face pushed hard against my back, and I even
wondered if I was standing the right way up. There was this big weight on my
chest. That was when the most interesting phase of the journey began. Strictly
speaking, it was an experience that justifies every single bit of everything
that you have heard about it in about eighteen degrees higher than the highest
hyperbolic manner of speaking that you hear it in. I stood just behind the
door, and could count no less than twelve heads in front of me, all leaning
outside the door, and one person’s hand was obstructing the sign saying that it
was dangerous to do what he was doing. Then there was the nose-picking,
ear-clearing, eye-goop cleaning, sneezing and other even more undesirable
public displays of personal grooming constantly going on in the background, and
if you stared at them, they glared right back at you and looked as if they
dared you to say anything about it. Then they would put in double the efforts
at doing whatever they were doing. Someone sneezed, and the phlegm flew off his
nose and landed on the elbow of a person leaning outside the door, and he
didn’t notice anything, as he was busy entertaining himself by studying
aerodynamics in great detail by cupping his hand and holding it outside the
train, perpendicular to his body. I was squeamish after I looked at the
gleaming bit of white liquid on his hands that reflected the bright sun
outside.
It was a sight that I couldn’t get rid off till Kurla, when a huge
chunk of the population got down, and another huge chunk got on. I was vaguely
excited about it all, but I don’t know why. I asked someone which side of the
train Matunga came, and had to push my way across, hearing a lot of swear words
in the process. The train had not even stopped before I found myself on the
platform. I had just stood there, suddenly all these people had just got down,
and they took me with them.
At Matunga, I went across what they call the Z bridge, which, as I
found out, is actually shaped like the letter M, and descended to the Matunga
road station, and saw as much of a crowd, if not more, over there. Somehow, I
squeezed myself in, thoroughly thrilled and asked someone which side Santa Cruz
was going to come. All the people instantly started shouting and urged me to
get down. I had climbed into the train going towards Churchgate, and geared
myself up to shove my way across again. But it was unnecessary, as soon as I
began, people stopped me and told me they wanted to get down at the next
station too. It’s a common enough thing now, but I was frankly amazed to see
half the train empty itself at Dadar.
From there, I caught another train to Santa Cruz, and this was less
crowded, and I got in. I looked around, and there was just this one place to
sit, and I wondered why, as there were many people standing, and waiting for a
seat. I should have known something was wrong, but I asked my inner voice to
shut up, and went and sat there. As soon as I sat down, a slight ripple of
laughter went through the people around me. A Gujrati woman in a yellow sari
with gaudy and revolting green peacocks on its border said “aa to beisee gayo!”
in a jolly, amused inflection, that you see in friends who are bursting with
mirth just before they tell a punch line of a joke. I cannot effectively translate
that into English, but what it meant was that for some reason, I wasn’t
supposed to sit there. I came to know this reason when I got up at Khar road,
and noticed that someone had vomited below the seat on which I was sitting…
I know that you won’t care for the following bit of information, but I
have to conclude in a tone that is positive at the least to me. I reached Santa
Cruz, safely, with no nasty injuries or loss, except for the cap of my water
bottle, which happened at Dadar.
-Aditya MJ
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