Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Mumbai Moments:Rail Tale

Mumbai's Lifeline:Railways
Passengers Fun Quotient: Daily Shows(Fights..hehehe)

From a far flung place like Khopoli to Panvel to kasara to Bhayander, railways' reach is diverse yet it takes people from one destination to other succesfully.
I have been travelling in a local train to go to junior college, then degree college and now to office. As the destinations for my colleges strecthed its limits my journeys also became longer. From a town called Ambarnath toVidyaVihar to MarineLines the travel never seemed to be easier but these locals tried to make it possible for me to reach my destinations.
Four years back the trains were not as crowded as they are today and people were not so insane as they have become.
everyday when i travel i can see a "daily show"- what i mean by a daily show is the fight between two ladies(and the onlookers passing their utmost important comments on who was correct!!) for either hanging on the door(most dangerous stunt performed by ladies where five female try to stand on the footboard which is not also five inches wide to keep their feet firmly)
or to get inside the train when a few so called gatekeepers try to stop people from entering the train. Even if the train is not crowded inside they make the bystanders at station feel that the train is overcrowded.

Their are some who start a fight because the girl standing infront of her face has long beautiful/ shiny/oily/dandruf-filled hair which trickles the face who are standingbehined her and makes them feel yucks(i hav also fought in this category).
then their would be some to fight for the fourth seat. Ahha! this is the best one as every passenger loves to comment on this highly debated issue.where, if a fatty person is sitting then the women beside her woud say to the one who is trying to grab the 4th seat, " see can u see any place?tumala jagah kuthey denar?( where do i give u da place)" and then the one who has been standing for more than 20minutes will bomb and say," shift, shift..hamko bhi baithneka hai(even we want to sit)" and there it goes....the big indian female horrible jhagda(Fight) challenge and unless one of the fighter's station arrives the fight will go on and on and on and even if you are a bystander trying to listen to 'Indino' by Pritam on your FM you will be highly disappointed as they would surely include you in the conversation..and u keep on saying only one thing "ata bas jhala!!!( its it now stop it!!!) or "janey do rahney do"(leave it/ forget it) but who forgets whom is the biggest question coz u don't forget neither do you forgive....
the last category which i love to see fight everyday is the one who would stand on the door and block the way even if they dont wish to get down and when you shout at them they will simply ignore you and you feel like pulling off all her hair from her head and say"You Bitch" but ofcourse by the time you pronounce the words you are all away in the crowd running towards your destination to catch another train or get a taxi to your office.
every day in Mumbai a passenger commutes for a minimum 15minutes to maximum3 hours and these fun filled and horribly frustrating situations leads you to think why people are becoming inhumane day by day?why everybody wants to run ahead and lead than calmly stand behined and be a part?
Everyday 3 people die in a train accident?why?sometimes people hanging on the door pick up their call- is a call more important than a life?people hang on the door in flying positions as if he/she is a superwoman or spiderman..i mean why people want to catch the FIRST AVAILABLE train by endangering their life?even i have done this but still i am searching the reason why?Logically if i fall then the urge to reach on time and be punctual doesnt hold any value because u wont be their any more to face the situation, then why not take life a bit easily and treat it with love and respect. Respect Life because thats wat gives us the ability and strength to move on..so why not treat life as we treat our closed ones?why not open our eyes and become mature citizens than hovering around like criminals trying to out do eachother...WHY???????yes railways is at fault because with every year population is increasing but why can't we travellers try to make it an easy journey than a cranky one where unless you blow out the inner frustration you dont feel happy?i need the answer WHY?can anyone be able to provide it?

1 comment:

Faith .. said...

great attempt .. language is lucid i must say ..
and one thing .. there is nothing called "first available train" .. all trains coming during peak hours are similar .. :)
cheers !!!!