"Arey pakad nahin to seat nahin milegi" "Arey zara hat yaar" "Arey pehle utarne to do" "Chal chhod, agli train pakdengey, ismein to seat khali nahin hai" etc. etc. etc. You will hear these sentences repeatedly spoken after every 3 or 4 minutes when the next local train arrives at the platform of Churchgate railway station.
The situation is just like a storm. Quiet atmosphere a minute before the train is to arrive. Screams & shouts as the train enters the platform & people run to catch the running train just to get the seat to sit. You can not only feel the lull before & after the storm but can also see the storm with your naked eyes.
Friday the 20th-August-2010, I was standing at Churchgate station in the evening around 6 pm, when in between the above screams I heard something different, "Arey bechara gaya andar". A crowd of about 50 plus persons were gathered around a person, who in an attempt to catch the running train to grab a seat, slipped and went straight under the train, but was fortunate that the train was at its minimum speed because it had to stop at the platform. Still the person was dragged with half body on the platform and the lower half under the train for quite a distance but was safe with few scratches.
Words of sympathy were exchanged. I heard someone saying, "kya zaroorat hai daudney ki, seat ke liye itni mara mari, achha hai bachh gaya bechara". While these words were being exchanged, the announcement was being made, "yartigan kripya dhyaan dein, platform number 3 par aaney wali local, Virar ke liye tez gaadi hai, yeh gaadi Mumbai Central se Dadar, Dadar se Bandra, Bandra se Andheri aur Andheri se Boriwali ke beech kisi bhi sthaan par nahin ruikegi"
Within a minute we could see the local crawling towards the platform number 3 and the lull before the storm engulfed the atmosphere, which was followed by the screams to get the seats and finally the screams died to bring the lull back. I boarded the train when it stopped only to find no vacant seat, kept the laptop in the space made for baggage & called the boy selling newspaper in the train. "Ek Mid-day dena yaar" & started reading. That's what most of the people do, they read or play games on their cell phones or listen to music.
The train, better known as life line of Mumbai started to leave the platform, making way for the another train to occupy the vacant spot. Where people will once again run for seats, will once again scream but life goes on. Even though the lifeline ends few lives everyday, it still stands tall and remain the first preference of maximum commuters. Come what may, life goes dhadak dhadak. Who cares for safety, everybody wants the chair.
