The local train is the lifeline of Mumbai. To survive in Maximum City, you have to include the local trains as an essential part of your life. Suketu Mehta calls Mumbai a "Vadapav Eater's city." It is the lunch of the chawl dwellers, the cart pullers, the urchins, the clerks, the cops, the gangsters and the whores. It is also a "Train Commuters city." It is the mode of transport for one and all.The local trains teach you a number of lessons in life and also the art of survival.
Travelling in a Mumbai local train not only requires great deal of physical strength and endurance, but more importantly it requires mental presence and application. For example, a train starting from Wadala is likely to be less crowded than a train starting from CST if you want to board it from Kurla. Whether to catch a slow local or a fast local. One needs to work out his grey cells to travel comfortably and in the shortest possible time. The bible for survival in here is the Rs 10/- local train pocket guide.
A peek through the windows gives you a glimpse of the extreme diversity that exists in this great metropolitan. Crossing Wadala Station, you can see the chawls on one side whereas a distant glance will let you see Antop Hill, where John Abraham lives.A local compartment is also a moving stock market. Eavesdropping into the discussions will give you such an information overload on stocks that you wont require any financial advisor.One learns with experience, and one thing which I have learnt through experience is to never board a Virar Fast if you want to get down at Andheri or Borivali.Experience has also taught that inside a compartment if you smell the sweat of Old Spice, you are in a first class compartment otherwise you are in a 2nd class.
The local compartment is also the place where people carry out their daily chores like cutting vegetables, chanting their daily prayers, and even shopping. Where else would you find a dvd seller selling movies, carrying a dvd player and playing it in front of you so that you are satisfied with its quality? It is also the place where one meets old friends, although spotting your friend amidst the huge crowds is like finding a needle in a haystack. One can explain almost anything by forming analogies with a local train. For example, "An elevator in a high rise is like a slow local, it stops at every damn floor." For the last two months, trains had become an essential part of my life. I almost saw the sunrise and the sunset from the trains. I missed something had I not boarded the train someday, and gradually I got so used to the crowds that I often found it difficult to board an empty compartment.I could hear the rumbling on the tracks even while I was asleep.Trains are indispensable. What if you stay at Ambarnath and your girlfriend calls you for a date in Nariman Point. Train is the only answer, or else the taxi fare will haunt you for the rest of the month. So to conclude,
"You can run, you can hide, but you can't escape the train"
