Ladies Compartment IInd Class

The second class ladies compartment is the most entertaining way to travel. Not everyone will be as amused but trust me if you do observe it in a detached manner you will find more than just a few instances that will make you laugh.
DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT TRYING TO TRIVIALIZE ISSUES. Just wanting to make people see the funnier side of life and if not that then just the gory reality of it.

1. THE GANGWAY is the way! The alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end- and hence, a lot of people (women) decide to just stand there even if the have to alight after another FIVE stations.

2. Push and Shove, elbow and bellow is the best way to get in or get out. Or so they think. Imagine if everyone went about their commute in an orderly fashion. Things would be easier, lesser people would be injured and the travel would be more pleasant.

3. It is a great place for women to knit, clean veggies and do some shopping on the go. You get everything here from Umbrella shaped mechanical pencils, mini hot water bags, accessories of all sorts, colouring books, stickers, combs, kitchen wares and eatables.

4. If you have noticed an argument in the compartment- refer #2 it starts with a push or a shove. The belligerent victim starts a verbal abuse of sorts and then starts explaining the situation to co passengers and including them into the fight. After that it becomes a jugalbandi when both the sides try to one up each other.

5. A baby in the compartment is a play toy for those around but the same baby if crying becomes a nuisance. When the baby smiles everyone wants to hold it but no one wants to comfort a crying baby.

6. People love to eat on the train... and then throw peels/ plastic bags/ any residue or remains out of the window. Now, i don't blame the uneducated but what about those who have a swanky mobile phone, seem to be from educated families and wear top class clothes and behave like.... This happens most often when the train crosses over some creek, out comes everyone's used garlands and other stuff the holy books say must be discarded only in water. Not trying to hurt religious sentiments but there are other ways to dispose.

7. The fourth seat is God send. Hell yeah! It sure is. Doesn't matter if less than half your butt fits on the edge of the seat and despite you almost slipping from on there you still hang on it for dear life cause your feet are killing you.

8. I have been travelling by trains for quite a while now but somehow i don't get used to the fact that people ask you "Where are you going to get off?" even before you sat on the seat that just got vacant. I know i have mentioned it in an earlier post but couldn't help it.

9. We turn a blind eye to the disparity among us. Yes, we do it and we say there is nothing we can do about it. I have seen more than a few times - women with children who aren't exactly normal trying to fight the unforgiving crowd and standing their way through while most others just choose to ignore. Giving your seat up (at least then) seems like a noble thing to do. Then there are the Seat Gangsters that reserve seats for their friends and pick fights if someone tries to reason it out.

10. Finally, the one thing i cannot afford to miss out. The advertisements stuck all over the train compartments - all compartments alike... There was this one that said "Love, Sex, Friendship, Call some number and some smarty pants had put an arrow below it and wrote DON'T CALL! :)

We Mumbaikars spend most of our waking hours on the train and thus they form an important part of our journey. Journey to work in the Journey of Life.

Still Waiting

Have you ever found yourself just waiting...
Endlessly for
1. An auto rickshaw
2. A friend's phone call
3. For it to be time to get off work
4. For a bus/train (Happens a lot in Mumbai)
5. For your flight to finally take off
6. For it to start raining
7. For it to stop raining
8. For your results to Come Out Already.
9. For the person you are waiting for to finally SHOW UP...
10.For ...well there can be a million things.
The 10th one is whatever you please.
FYI - Sometimes waiting can just be fun!

HARBOUR LINE

After a very tiring industrial visit in Lower Parel, Nadi took us (Chappu, Barack and me) to his home. We were at his place at 4 and after a few minutes of watching t.v, we decided against it as there wasn't anything interesting to watch. At chappu's insistence we started playing carrom and i must admit:"I CAN'T PLAY at ALL".After an hour of playing i realised it was time to go home but was worried about the crowd in the train. The boys decided to stay over till dinner and leave at around 10pm.Being a girl i didn't get the privilege to stay back and had to leave immediately because even though the women's 2nd class compartment is not as bad as general during the RUSH HOURS,it isn't any better either.

So Nadi decided to drop me at Sewri station.We hopped into his car while Chappu and Barack waited for him back home. Nadi gave me directions to the station and the platform and as i bought my ticket i watched the empty Belapur bound train go. Panvel being the last stop has more people getting into that train, i had made up my mind to take a train to Vashi or Belapur,definitely not Panvel. I looked at my watch and then looked at the train coming towards me and guess what, Panvel bound it had to be. I took some seconds to decide whether waiting for 10 more minutes was worth it or reaching home early in a crowded train was. I made my choice , i wanted to go home real soon  NO matter what. There i was inside the train( me and my bag).

I stood in the  aisle and then suddenly a woman sitting in front of me pushed a bit and gave me a place to sit. I thanked her and sat though i felt standing is a lot better than having half yr butt outside the seat. Across the aisle was a woman with her very naughty son.She asked me when Govandi would come. I told her its a station after Kurla and there is a lot of time.I don't travel by train generally. I still  trusted what i just blurted not completely though.The very next thing i did was turn back and check the chart of stations stuck above the door. It was in hindi and the font wasn't very clear. A little straining of my eyes did the trick, I read in my mind Sewri, Wadala Road, GTB Nagar, Chunnabhatti, Kurla, Tilak Nagar, Chembur,Govandi.By now we had crossed Wadala Road.(One ,two, three,four,five,six) I looked at her and said "chheh stations ke baad hai Govandi."

At GTB Nagar and Chunnabhatti there were women who just entered the compartment and pointed at you. At this, you are expected to tell them where you are getting off so that these people can sit. Since i am a Mumbai Girl i understand this semi non-verbal form of communication which is very common in all public transport (viz. Buses and Trains) and promptly replied Vashi. I was a mere spectator to their disappointment as i learned they wanted to get off at Mankhurd which is the station before my destination.

KURLA,according to me is one of the most sinister stations ever known. I had a dislike for this place since forever and i hate it even more now (after we [girl pals] got caught in a stampede on the station over brige , i thought i would never survive that day.) This place has mostly fisher folk enter the train and then your nose goes bonkers with all stale fish and rotting vegetables smell mixed with a pint of sweat from their sticky bodies all culminating into a not so nice fragrance of its kind.

 The people getting in here are mostly illiterate and therefore conclude that any one who even is slightly off balance and falls on them by mistake is out there to hurt them. 

Take for instance this: A woman ( the fisher folk kind) with a whole lot of piercings and super stretched earring holes sitting in the train almost dozing off was slightly nudged by another woman.The nudging being purely due to the inertia of her body against the train which just started moving off the platform of Tilak Nagar. 

This is the dialogue that ensued

FF(fisher woman not exactly coz she had no fish) :"Aare,disat nahi kaaa? Dhakka kyon maari?" Itka zorat mala lagla"

FORTUNATELY THE OTHER WAS MAHARASTRIAN TOO 

OW(other woman) : "oordu nako, (dont shout) me tumahala dhaaka det navhoti, mala phakta hey bag varti thevache aahe." 

FF: "mala lagla, aaree baba"

OW:(to other women) "maine unhe jaan pooch ke nahi maara. Unko thoda sa laga, dekho naa kitna suna rahi hai."

AW: (another woman)"Yeh log aise hi hote hai, aap shaant rahiye, aapki galati nahi hai.Inse mat bhidye"

It was funny but not for them.

After all this we realised we reached Chembur and i asked the woman across the aisle to get ready to get off.She confirmed the station again and took her kid and climbed down after paying Rs. 10 for a  pack of fryams for her son.

At Mankhurd there was a really old lady who entered the train and since i got enough place to sit comfortably from Kurla i decided to give her my seat.I promptly offered her my place and went and stood in the centre soon to be pushed by the Orange Vendor woman. She walked with an air which said"My oranges are the best and the sweetest you can find" she did not bargain and said "Lene ka hai toh le lo,nahi toh jao." 

I looked out of the bogey and  all i could see is the water below, i sensed the end of my journey and after crossing the creek the train came to a sudden halt, i realised my destination is still few minutes away and we had to wait till the signal went green. As soon as the train picked up pace two young girls stood near the door and were discussing their daily routine with pride.

I then saw the white Infotech Park Buildings of the railway station and was all smiles.I felt at home because i was finally HOME.I quickly texted Nadi and thanked him for the fun time we had. I truly enjoyed my chuk chuk gaddi ride on harbour line.