COLORS OF MUMBAI
I wrote my last post when I was on my way to Mumbai. Well here I am in this city and this post is dedicated to the city itself.
Well this post is somewhat different .. it portrays my Mumbai experience.. and what’s better in exploring Mumbai than a local train of Mumbai. To get the first hand experience on Mumbai I decided to go on a train ride. Well I was not alone… I had a companion. The companion was A MAP of all routes of the trains which made me feel pretty confident. I was travelling on a weekend so it wasn’t as difficult as it usually was. But then, I did not know I’d have my fair share of EXPERIENCES along the way. I hopped the train.. asked a few people for directions.. and then when I got on the train.. I was pretty confident of my math that I would reach the correct destination. Checking on the station from time to time, to see if the map I carried actually was correct, or rather to check ,if the train was working in sync with my equipment :P
Okay so here it was… I was finally “on the train, on my own”… ready to take on the challenges of the darned metro… as vicious as a hungry wolf to leave no holds barred to reach my destination….. ( Well , in a local train ain’t considered a big thing I know, but the place where I come from.. I mean to even go a kilometer away we take a car…. So this was a totally new experience… anyhow unsure of the further developments that were to take place…. I plunged ahead with utmost courage).
So as I entered the train.. I saw a lot of people.. I somehow felt like an alien in that crowd.. I mean u could sense from the dressing sense that I was an alien… they knew it.. I knew it.. but then after a few moments the weirdness was over and people did not seem to bother… It was like they would’ve probably been accustomed to alien sightings once in a while .. anyhow I struggled to find myself a seat.. and then finally I got one. As I sat I noticed that the guy sitting next to me might be around 47-48 was reading a newspaper.. te newspaper was in Marathi and he felt the most urban among the lot. The guy sitting directly in front of me might be in early sixties and he was busy….Busy takin out stuff from his packet one after another and munching away to glory givin a damn about the world. I was amused and for a while kept watching what this guy was doing…he had a small packet but it contained a hell lot of variety… I thought he’d notice me staring… but he did not…probably he might be thinking that I wanted to have a piece or so.. so he played safe.. no eye contact… no acknowledgement.. busy in his world. I kinda liked watching him…. Seemed so carefree. Wish I could be that carefree sometime. Anyhow the guy continued munching and the next station came … and there comes a couple in their early forties.. with two children… meanwhile on a seat of three .. we had 4 ppl adjusting themselves. And though I felt a bit uncomfortable I continued to stay put. So now came the lady who was holding her 3 year old sun in her lap ... seemed like he was sleeping. She came and stood right beside me… okay here was the crunch… I was almost falling off the seat and this lady was on the other side… potentially threatening me not to fall on her and her son in her lap.. on the top of it… the son’s shoes hitting me on my shoulder again and again. Well I prayed for my station to come… and counted the stations.. and finally reached the destination. Not to forget the amazing hot love making scenes I witnessed at the station.. oh yeah! Sorry to break your heart.. DOGS!!
THE RETURN JOURNEY:
Well I reached my destination. Had a lot of fun. Caught a lot of action. Movies.. Booze and what not. Coming back to the topic we are discussing here…the journey… I had to head back…. And so I reached the station.. fully equipped with the map in hand. This time the travel was from Andheri to Chinchpokli… lol funny name … Chinchpokli…lol. Anyhow the journey required me to change stations I mean the whole route had to be changed which was an arduous task along the way. So I hopped on the train .. fully confident relying on my past experience.. that I would make it flawless again.. ( with a few directions of the people around). Well if u know men are hesitant to ask for directions…(Read “men are from mars and women are from venus”).. I proved my mettle… based on a guess that this was the right direction and right train.. I hopped on. This time I decided not to sit since the experience had not been that good the last time. So here I am.. standing alongside the doors…..and then I heard someone singing… usually I don’t pay heed… but it was a small girl singing the song of a Salman Khan movie…and being an ardent fan of salman.. I couldn’t help but notice.. the song was “ teri chunariaaaaaaaaaa dil le gaeeeeeeeeeee”. Sung in a weird fashion… and another girl who might be around 5 or 6 yrs old.. standing… her hands on her waist… and moving up and down...(just like an exercise … supposed to be a dance… weird!! Phew!) then after the little jig was over.. they seemed fully trained to make use of the cuteness factor… making those droopy eyes and asking for money. The locals ignored them and they knew who were the target customers.. they came to me and even I behaved in the same manner as everyone… but she knew if she sticks around for a while she had better chances of makin money. And she succeeded.. she got a buck or two.. just because she had performed on a salman song.. mind it!!! ;)
Next part of the trip constituted a display of my expertise… a guy .. who looked like he’s from Mumbai asked me if we had reached a certain station… I took out the map and like an expert gave my opinion… I told him where to change the stations… and since he was with me.. he could come along.. because we both had to change stations. Counting the stations, I reckoned that the right station had come.. and just to confirm I asked a fellow that the station I had predicted was correct… well the man looked shocked. Why? Because I had surpassed the station I was supposed to get off on long long ago….. I had caught the wrong train. ( I was supposed to catch the slow track train .. but had caught the fast track train instead.)
Anyhow the guy who was with me.. I could not manage to look at him.. Obviously I was embarrassed.. anyhow he shook it off by initiating a conversation.. we both had surpassed our stations and had to go back.. So we were waitin for the train and then the conversation actually took place… he was a waiter at some local restaurant in Lower Parel. His name was “baapi”.. I mean that’s wat I could make out from the conversation.. I told him that I was not from around.. he said that he’ll be late for work today but he could afford it as the restaurant had a late party last night. I wanted to tell him I was doing an MBA.. but somehow I stopped. I don’t know why. I asked the name of his restaurant… he told me a couple of times.. I could not make out of what he said… it was I think named.. “high point” as per wat he was saying… finally he gave up and took out his purse and gave me the card of his restaurant…. The name was “Grapeviine”. At last his station came and he had to get off. He put his hand forward and I shook it… thinkin if I had acted like a total jerk. Finally he got off. I checked the card again.. thinking how would life of this common man work out for him? I mean he was just living in the moment.. no social security.. no permanent job.. no classy parties.. just struggle all the way.. Somehow I felt lucky.. somehow I felt content and at the same time anxious.. that what would happen to this guy a few years from now. He seems happy.. a smile on his face.. not knowing what might come his way.. but still going on.. I guess that’s what is called the spirit of Mumbai.. moving on.. despite all the hurdles u just keep moving.. takin life as it comes.
I thought I’d visit his restaurant and have dinner there.. he had told me that people these days are eating continental.. its very good for health.. I should also try it sometime. I was sure I wanted to visit him.. and leave him a hefty tip.. somehow would make him happy.. but I was in a dilemma.. would he want to act as a waiter to a person whom he was considering as an equal in the train.. whom he thought was just like him.. an ordinary man struggling through the trains. All my way back home I kept thinking what to do … to go or not to go….
Somehow I did not! The card still remains in my wallet!
Well this post is somewhat different .. it portrays my Mumbai experience.. and what’s better in exploring Mumbai than a local train of Mumbai. To get the first hand experience on Mumbai I decided to go on a train ride. Well I was not alone… I had a companion. The companion was A MAP of all routes of the trains which made me feel pretty confident. I was travelling on a weekend so it wasn’t as difficult as it usually was. But then, I did not know I’d have my fair share of EXPERIENCES along the way. I hopped the train.. asked a few people for directions.. and then when I got on the train.. I was pretty confident of my math that I would reach the correct destination. Checking on the station from time to time, to see if the map I carried actually was correct, or rather to check ,if the train was working in sync with my equipment :P
Okay so here it was… I was finally “on the train, on my own”… ready to take on the challenges of the darned metro… as vicious as a hungry wolf to leave no holds barred to reach my destination….. ( Well , in a local train ain’t considered a big thing I know, but the place where I come from.. I mean to even go a kilometer away we take a car…. So this was a totally new experience… anyhow unsure of the further developments that were to take place…. I plunged ahead with utmost courage).
So as I entered the train.. I saw a lot of people.. I somehow felt like an alien in that crowd.. I mean u could sense from the dressing sense that I was an alien… they knew it.. I knew it.. but then after a few moments the weirdness was over and people did not seem to bother… It was like they would’ve probably been accustomed to alien sightings once in a while .. anyhow I struggled to find myself a seat.. and then finally I got one. As I sat I noticed that the guy sitting next to me might be around 47-48 was reading a newspaper.. te newspaper was in Marathi and he felt the most urban among the lot. The guy sitting directly in front of me might be in early sixties and he was busy….Busy takin out stuff from his packet one after another and munching away to glory givin a damn about the world. I was amused and for a while kept watching what this guy was doing…he had a small packet but it contained a hell lot of variety… I thought he’d notice me staring… but he did not…probably he might be thinking that I wanted to have a piece or so.. so he played safe.. no eye contact… no acknowledgement.. busy in his world. I kinda liked watching him…. Seemed so carefree. Wish I could be that carefree sometime. Anyhow the guy continued munching and the next station came … and there comes a couple in their early forties.. with two children… meanwhile on a seat of three .. we had 4 ppl adjusting themselves. And though I felt a bit uncomfortable I continued to stay put. So now came the lady who was holding her 3 year old sun in her lap ... seemed like he was sleeping. She came and stood right beside me… okay here was the crunch… I was almost falling off the seat and this lady was on the other side… potentially threatening me not to fall on her and her son in her lap.. on the top of it… the son’s shoes hitting me on my shoulder again and again. Well I prayed for my station to come… and counted the stations.. and finally reached the destination. Not to forget the amazing hot love making scenes I witnessed at the station.. oh yeah! Sorry to break your heart.. DOGS!!
THE RETURN JOURNEY:
Well I reached my destination. Had a lot of fun. Caught a lot of action. Movies.. Booze and what not. Coming back to the topic we are discussing here…the journey… I had to head back…. And so I reached the station.. fully equipped with the map in hand. This time the travel was from Andheri to Chinchpokli… lol funny name … Chinchpokli…lol. Anyhow the journey required me to change stations I mean the whole route had to be changed which was an arduous task along the way. So I hopped on the train .. fully confident relying on my past experience.. that I would make it flawless again.. ( with a few directions of the people around). Well if u know men are hesitant to ask for directions…(Read “men are from mars and women are from venus”).. I proved my mettle… based on a guess that this was the right direction and right train.. I hopped on. This time I decided not to sit since the experience had not been that good the last time. So here I am.. standing alongside the doors…..and then I heard someone singing… usually I don’t pay heed… but it was a small girl singing the song of a Salman Khan movie…and being an ardent fan of salman.. I couldn’t help but notice.. the song was “ teri chunariaaaaaaaaaa dil le gaeeeeeeeeeee”. Sung in a weird fashion… and another girl who might be around 5 or 6 yrs old.. standing… her hands on her waist… and moving up and down...(just like an exercise … supposed to be a dance… weird!! Phew!) then after the little jig was over.. they seemed fully trained to make use of the cuteness factor… making those droopy eyes and asking for money. The locals ignored them and they knew who were the target customers.. they came to me and even I behaved in the same manner as everyone… but she knew if she sticks around for a while she had better chances of makin money. And she succeeded.. she got a buck or two.. just because she had performed on a salman song.. mind it!!! ;)
Next part of the trip constituted a display of my expertise… a guy .. who looked like he’s from Mumbai asked me if we had reached a certain station… I took out the map and like an expert gave my opinion… I told him where to change the stations… and since he was with me.. he could come along.. because we both had to change stations. Counting the stations, I reckoned that the right station had come.. and just to confirm I asked a fellow that the station I had predicted was correct… well the man looked shocked. Why? Because I had surpassed the station I was supposed to get off on long long ago….. I had caught the wrong train. ( I was supposed to catch the slow track train .. but had caught the fast track train instead.)
Anyhow the guy who was with me.. I could not manage to look at him.. Obviously I was embarrassed.. anyhow he shook it off by initiating a conversation.. we both had surpassed our stations and had to go back.. So we were waitin for the train and then the conversation actually took place… he was a waiter at some local restaurant in Lower Parel. His name was “baapi”.. I mean that’s wat I could make out from the conversation.. I told him that I was not from around.. he said that he’ll be late for work today but he could afford it as the restaurant had a late party last night. I wanted to tell him I was doing an MBA.. but somehow I stopped. I don’t know why. I asked the name of his restaurant… he told me a couple of times.. I could not make out of what he said… it was I think named.. “high point” as per wat he was saying… finally he gave up and took out his purse and gave me the card of his restaurant…. The name was “Grapeviine”. At last his station came and he had to get off. He put his hand forward and I shook it… thinkin if I had acted like a total jerk. Finally he got off. I checked the card again.. thinking how would life of this common man work out for him? I mean he was just living in the moment.. no social security.. no permanent job.. no classy parties.. just struggle all the way.. Somehow I felt lucky.. somehow I felt content and at the same time anxious.. that what would happen to this guy a few years from now. He seems happy.. a smile on his face.. not knowing what might come his way.. but still going on.. I guess that’s what is called the spirit of Mumbai.. moving on.. despite all the hurdles u just keep moving.. takin life as it comes.
I thought I’d visit his restaurant and have dinner there.. he had told me that people these days are eating continental.. its very good for health.. I should also try it sometime. I was sure I wanted to visit him.. and leave him a hefty tip.. somehow would make him happy.. but I was in a dilemma.. would he want to act as a waiter to a person whom he was considering as an equal in the train.. whom he thought was just like him.. an ordinary man struggling through the trains. All my way back home I kept thinking what to do … to go or not to go….
Somehow I did not! The card still remains in my wallet!
posted by rocko_001 at
3:40 PM
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