The Rat Race

I'm part of the "Rat Race" that is regular rush hour Mumbai.... i leave my tiny little flat in the surburbs between 7:25 and 7:30 in the morning so i can get one of two trains that will reach Churchgate Station at 8:30, just in time for me to catch a cab and get to work.... i spend the first hour of my day in a mad rush to get the train and then once i get the dratted thing, i spend another half an hour standing keeping an eye peeled for a few inches of space freed by someone getting off....
Train travel in Mumbai defies all laws of physics.... despite a fixed amount of space normally solid humans follow the laws of liquids and manage to find space for what seems like millions.... if there is even a couple of inches standing space somewhere with a handhold within reach... no matter how treacherous or uncomfortable ... someone will be on it.... the trains of Mumbai serve as an eternal symbol of the indomitable spirit of the working class of Mumbai.... no matter what.... we will brave disease, (extremely) cramped spaces, determined beggars and fish water just to catch our train.... its not that we can't afford more expensive modes of transport.... we can.. we just do't want the bother of getting stuck in a traffic jam...
the trains and the people that frequently use them are a wonderfull combination.... nothing can keep them apart... floods, riots, bomb blasts.... the trains will continue .....
battered, dusty, dirty but yet dependable..... even a 15 minute delay is a big enough event to make the local news...
i once saw a paper stuck to a seat in a train.... someone had put chewing gum on the seat.... disgusting isn't it? so someone else had put a piece of paper over that so that no one's clothes would get messed up by it.... to me that signifies the spirit of Mumbai.... there is poverty, there is crime... there are molesters galore... but there are also those who will come out and help.... those who will queue up outside hospitals to donate blood to the victims of bomb blasts... those who will make tea and carry it out with biscuits to millions who are trudging home through waist deep water in the floods... they didn't have to..... they could have stayed in... they chose not to....
With this city its love or hate... nothing inbetween..... its intense.... definitely not for the faint of heart.