Rediscovery!

For an outsider, it is Mumbai---the economic capital of India.A city dedicated to business,trade and financial transactions.Mumbai stands for the uniformity of corporate culture, business jargons and plain suits.I too had the same notions, until I took my maiden ride of the local trains---lifeline of its people.

I took an Auto rickshaw to approach the local station.It was quite a ride in itself. The driver squeezing us from every opportunity granted,steering sharply at every corner possible and honking all the way into the seemingly random traffic.

As we reached the Anderi East station,specter was almost festive.Way to the station has turned into a busy gully of shops that sold almost every household utility,trinkets and fast food.Late hours of the day has not dampened the spirit.People were thronging in and out of the station.Many were hurriedly catching up with refreshments,some with the last minute buyouts for their homes and a few were busy buying trinkets.

I made my stride towards the station with uncertain slow steps.I was in awe by the buzzing activity.Sooner I realized that for the people around it was a normal affair.They had to trains to catch and homes to reach.My steps turned swift, for people around me made them so.I was following the left trail, as the right was for those moving out.No, there were no signs boards or placards suggesting so.It was an unspoken agreement among hundreds of strangers who make the same journey every day.

The uniform human stream soon breaks into smaller channels,and people make ways to the platforms of their choosing.This all happens in a spur of moment, as if everything was part of a factory plan.However, to me it was a chaos with lanes of people criss-crossing each other in gush.I was helpless for a moment, but a man directed me to the platform 1.

I somehow boarded the train.It was packed.I was almost hanging onto the handles,with people pushing from all the sides.The humidity and heat almost broke me, but then I witnessed Bombay firsthand.A group of passengers sitting to the far corner started playing music.I tried having a look,but I found myself mummified among walls of human.While my body was stuck, soul was dancing to the tune.They played until Churchgate---our last destination.

On my alight, the swarm of people almost threw me out of the train but that could not dampen my spirit anymore. By then I had learnt the ways of Bombay; the culture that one needs to inundate oneself into to appreciate.