Mumbai Locals.

I am one of the millions who travel by local train everyday. It is the lifeline of the city. Even if it is shut for a few hours, the city goes haywire. As the culture is such that people live far from their work places, most of them depend on public transport and a majority of them use the trains.

I too am completely depended on the trains when I have to go to my office. But I must tell you that it is not an easy task. Traveling in the train is one of the worst experiences one can have in their lives. Well, of course, trains are the lifeline of Mumbai and all and that they make travel fast and easy, but all said and done, the traveling experience is a nightmare.

I have to go to Churchgate everyday from Kandivli. I take a train from Kandivli to Borivli, which gets converted into a Churchgate train. Only this way do I stand a chance to get a seat in the train, and that too is not always a surety. If I try to get in directly from Kandivli, getting a seat is just impossible; also getting space to keep your feet is no mean feat.

I totally believe in Karma, and I am always inclined to think that people who travel by the Mumbai local trains must have committed some serious sins in their previous lives. People cry out in pain when someone stamps on their feet or hits them on their faces with an elbow or crush them to the walls. As there is no space to move and people in their desperation try to hold on to anything, cling to the gates and sit on the train rooftops and hang on the windows.

I think it is high time that the government took some concrete steps in making the daily journey less of a pain and more of an enjoyable experience.