It is widely believed that an average mumbaikar spends more time commuting in trains than he spends staying in his own house. I have never really travelled much by the Mumbai locals, as per the Mumbai standards. My travel from locals were at a high point when once in a month I used to visit the British library at the Mittal Towers, Nariman Point. Those days I used to catch the locals that used to originate from the 7th platform of Andheri station and would reach VT station in about 25-30 minutes.
My other regular commute was from Andheri to Borivalli every alternate Fridays to catch the outstation trains from the Borivali station. Apart from these 2 regular routes, the other local journeys were rather once or twice in a life time; hence rather the insignificant ones.
Today I do not commute by locals at all because firstly, I do not live in Mumbai any more; secondly, there is no regular library left out of the British Library :(. Now today when there is no commute by the locals, what I get amused is by recollecting my journeys done in the yesteryear.
The part that holds a strong position in my memories of local trains in the fight and quarrel that used to happen in-between the women travellers. I happened to travel mostly in the ladies compartment, so I witnessed only the women fights. In between the milling crowds of a local swinging from one side to another, it used to be difficult to make out who exactly were the fighting folks. One could only hear the shouts of "You mind your own business"; "you Shut Up" and a lot of "you...you bitch" thrown in-between the casual abuses. The abuses would go on till one of the opponent would reach to her destination station. But still neither would leave the fight; they would hurl abuses at each other from the window slits. Though both would not be able to see each other through the windows; but they would not hesitate away from targeting the abuses to whatever body part of each other they would be able to see.
Another surprising part is that though there would be so many fellow travellers in the same coach, but none would even take a notice of the gruesome quarrel, let alone making an effort to chide any of the two fighters.
After witnessing such fights I made up few strands to the fights that I witnessed in my lifetime in the locals. I am sure that most of the fights must have bulged due to one of the person stepping on the other; or one of the person not moving inside as instructed by the other; or by just some unintended physical brush that must have hurt the other. And again one or the other must have been going through a tired physical phase of life at that particular moment, and must have decided to refuse to apologize and hence went ahead with the brawl. Seriously, considering the population of Mumbai, if such fights happen in each and every compartment of a local everyday every hour, I am sure it is not pretty much. I do not have access to the statistics, but I am sure numbers would have suggested that there is not much of a fight that happens in-between the Mumbaikars. People in the city really have a lot of patience, in spite of what all they go through every day.
I am sure of one more thing; the fighters who would see each other eye-to-eye some other day will surely smile and make up, really I do not know anyone in Mumbai who holds on to grudges for a very long time...
My other regular commute was from Andheri to Borivalli every alternate Fridays to catch the outstation trains from the Borivali station. Apart from these 2 regular routes, the other local journeys were rather once or twice in a life time; hence rather the insignificant ones.
Today I do not commute by locals at all because firstly, I do not live in Mumbai any more; secondly, there is no regular library left out of the British Library :(. Now today when there is no commute by the locals, what I get amused is by recollecting my journeys done in the yesteryear.
The part that holds a strong position in my memories of local trains in the fight and quarrel that used to happen in-between the women travellers. I happened to travel mostly in the ladies compartment, so I witnessed only the women fights. In between the milling crowds of a local swinging from one side to another, it used to be difficult to make out who exactly were the fighting folks. One could only hear the shouts of "You mind your own business"; "you Shut Up" and a lot of "you...you bitch" thrown in-between the casual abuses. The abuses would go on till one of the opponent would reach to her destination station. But still neither would leave the fight; they would hurl abuses at each other from the window slits. Though both would not be able to see each other through the windows; but they would not hesitate away from targeting the abuses to whatever body part of each other they would be able to see.
Another surprising part is that though there would be so many fellow travellers in the same coach, but none would even take a notice of the gruesome quarrel, let alone making an effort to chide any of the two fighters.
After witnessing such fights I made up few strands to the fights that I witnessed in my lifetime in the locals. I am sure that most of the fights must have bulged due to one of the person stepping on the other; or one of the person not moving inside as instructed by the other; or by just some unintended physical brush that must have hurt the other. And again one or the other must have been going through a tired physical phase of life at that particular moment, and must have decided to refuse to apologize and hence went ahead with the brawl. Seriously, considering the population of Mumbai, if such fights happen in each and every compartment of a local everyday every hour, I am sure it is not pretty much. I do not have access to the statistics, but I am sure numbers would have suggested that there is not much of a fight that happens in-between the Mumbaikars. People in the city really have a lot of patience, in spite of what all they go through every day.
I am sure of one more thing; the fighters who would see each other eye-to-eye some other day will surely smile and make up, really I do not know anyone in Mumbai who holds on to grudges for a very long time...
