Hello Everyone,I am back with more news from 'Amchi Mumbai'. Today I would like to share with you all one of the most charcteristic and peculiar features of this metropolis  . The local train . I know there will be howls of protest. Mumbai is not the only city in India to have local trains. True. But is there any city in India that carries so many lakhs of commuters every day to work? One day the trains don't run and phut!!!! The city stops functioning.
But that is only one aspect of the Mumbai local. I take the 7:09 am  local every day to work and then the 6:00 pm back again when I'm homeward bound. Those who have never travelled on our locals won't believe a word till they actually see for themselves what happens. Every day the train enters the platform punctually at 7:09. You must be there at least 2 seconds before. Then as the train slows down you better start running along and hop into it as fast as you can because it is already 3/4 full. If your speed is anywhere short of lightning then you'll miss the two or three available seats and you jolly well keep standing till your destination. On a lucky day (while standing) you may get breathing space and may even get to say 'hello' to some of the regulars, otherwise be prepared to stand in a fixed postion like a statue till it is time to get down.

My stop is Kurla!! This is a station( built sometime during the British Raj)  that should be bombed by the Central Railway and rebuilt from scratch. Anyway till such a thing happens those who have to get down at Kurla must start inching their way towards the door right from Chembur (two stations before) so that they don't miss the chance of placing their feet on the platform at Kurla.
Once the train reaches Kurla on platform 8 all the people pop out on the platform like popcorn. Then comes the  nightmarish journey of climbing the high ramp(equal to 100 steps ) and running like olympic sprinters across the overbridge and then down the ramp(equal to 100 steps again) to platform 1 and out to the bus stop to catch the office bus. This part is not difficult , you'll say. Now hold it!!! In between there are 6 more platforms and Kurla being a junction there are trains pouring in from all directions and pouring out their passengers from all directions. So as thousands of you from your train try to go move westwards there'll be thousands more trying to move eastwards, each one running as if there was a tsunami chasing them. In between there is bound to be a terrible collision and you have to negotiate that, plus keep an eagle eye open for pickpockets and those who wear saris hold on to it with your dear life otherwise you'll end up in jail for indecent exposure.

Somehow you manage to keep yourself  intact , reach your workplace smile at your colleagues and boss and behave like your'e fresh as a daisy. Everyone knows what you've been through but no one mentions it because everyone is pretending to be a daisy. You work 8 to 9 hours then head home. The journey to the station is bearable if there is no traffic jam.

Then comes the return train journey. Now this one is incomparable. Tempers are running high on all the 8 platforms of Kurla because the surrounding temperature is high. Add to it there are some whose blood pressure is high because they got a solid one from the boss. The train chugs in, already bursting to the seams because it is carrying homebound workers plus shoppers and non-working mothers and their kids also. You push and punch your way in, (you can't do it any other way) and enter. The compartment is so tightly packed that even breathing becomes difficult. If your arm is bent or you are bent at 45 degrees you stay that way. It is no different from a gas chamber and you'll feel like a victim who is going to be gassed.
By the grace of your luck you manage to reach your station. You don't have to get down. Just be near the door and you'll automatically come down. When you finally reach home you'll feel you have conquered the world.

This happens 365 days a year minus the holidays. However we cannot ignore our local trains . The Mumbai locals adore the railway locals because without them offices will shut down. If Mumbai shuts down you can imagine what'll happen to Mr. Chidambaram's 12% rate of growth!!!
So though we are managing Mr. Lalu Yadav please do something before your 45 lakh daily commuters get suffocated in your gas chambers. The fate and future of India lies in your hands!!!!!!