The Flickering tube ..

The metro bubble - aushwitz mumbai

Well .. if u are in mumbai , andif u utilize local trains to travel daily, u know what i am going to write about ..
the local trains of mumbai are certainly some of the unique modes of transport in the world.
You can swing on , hang on , climb on and even ride on ! these lumbering electric giants ..

Its 9:00 in the morning.. Goregao station .. the old overhead speakers crackle .. "thomas Edison" style to announce arrivals on the various platforms .. the announcer seems to have a hedache as she monotonously reads out the details. people are rushing towards the platform to catch the train towards church gate .. an old indicator powered by an 8 segment bulb (!!) display "sir humphery Davy" style :)) is flickering .. and invaryably wrong time of arrival ..

I hurry towards the over bridge.. catching glimpses of the ocassionaly sweet females climbing down ;) and observing people ..
as the train nears there is an incredible exodus and then a flow of humans into the compartments .. inside its "lucifers domain" if u are a second class ticket holder then its what lucifer fears :))
Andheri and DADAR are the most congested of all stations .. 2.2 MILLION people travel DAILY through the mumbai suburban rail network (!@#$%) can u imagine that ? .. well its not so surprising if you have ever gone towards borivli at 6:30 pm in second class :))

The ricshaws are on the better side though.. (comparatively) .. they follow a common meter (some are tampered .. but thats ok) and the fare for an average distance would be Rs 15 (about $0.25) ... during peak hours . you have to be very attentive to catch a rick .. they move like they are placed on a converyer belt ( and the belt controller is heavily drunk :))

posted by Blizzard of Oz @ 4:57:00 PM