You search for the tiniest of gaps available, with your hands clutching on to God knows what! You expertly dodge an elbow in an exemplary display of human reflexes that will put even a Kung-fu master to shame. And after using up all of the energy saved up from last night’s supper, and the following morning’s breakfast perhaps, you get in…into a crowded local train. The Lifeline of Mumbai, as we know it, an ingrained part of life of every Mumbaikar.
You somehow manage to enter, but the struggle is by no means over, you have only witnessed the trailer, what follows is worse. The local trains of Mumbai have been proved, yes proved, to be denser than Osmium [look it up…the metal, not the obviously falsefact]. And you are right there in the centre, along with people of all species and genus. It is so congested that you will envy a sardine for having that extra bit of space. As if that’s not unpleasant enough, your nostrils will be subjected to at least 5 different kinds of hair-oils and deodarants, some mildly pleasant, some plain nauseating. Also, if you are fortunate, you’ll get a complete know-how of the hormones behind that stinky sweat. Your co-passengers are all the more interesting. The one behind you uses, or rather abuses, your back in unmentionable ways. The one in front happens to have the largest of bags cramping your tummy, bringing the whole process of digestion to an abrupt halt! The whole process leaves you in a pool of sweat, and what’s scarier is that the sweat isn’t yours.
The struggle intensifies as you reach your destination stop. You are subjected to all types and magnitudes of forces. Your body screams for room, but there isn’t any. You’ll have to endure elbows smacking your skull every now and then. Finally when it’s time to alight, you needn’t to move a muscle. You are mechanically shoved out, and if you’re not careful enough, back into the train! You are required to possess quick feet, excellent agility and supreme reflexes to make your way through impatient people eager to enter.
How, just how, can one learn cope with this kind of physical, mental, and to a certain extent, sexual abuse on a daily basis? Simple, ask a mumbaikar. After all, it’s just another day in the life of a Mumbaikar.
