The journey begins with the quiet calm before the storm. The trains are often over 10 minutes apart, but everyone stands shoulder to shoulder in the ready position, staring intently at the tracks. Because as soon as the next train arrives, they have mere seconds to secure a spot, and they know that not even half of the people here are going to make it. Only the strong survive.

After the wild blur of pushing, shoving, and elbows to the face that ensues, all of the motion suddenly stops. As the train begins to move, everyone freeze in whatever position they were in at the time. Bags held over heads, one person’s face in another man’s armpit, babies on stranger’s shoulders

Some of the people end up hanging outside the train. This is actually the best place to be, as long as the train isn’t too full. The scene you just saw wasn’t even rush hour. During that time, the line of people outside the door can get up to four people deep. I was lucky enough to get three fingers onthe bar inside and both feet on the floor. Many just get one tiptoe and a hand on the sharp metal ridge on top of the train.

I love the train. If you can get past the body odor, the danger of having to squeeze in as oncoming trains speed toward your face, it’s like an amusement park ride. And the little girls who come aboard and play the accordian for change add to the fun park feel.

Every Mumbaikar (that’s what residents are called) I’ve spoken to hates the train, but for me, it’s like watching every aspect of the city, from slums, to big buildings in a high speed documentary, while on a rollercoaster. I want you to know that my camera batteries died as soon as I squeezed my way to the door, so in order to get this pictures for you folks I had to change batteries with one hand while the other kept me from falling off a bridge into the freeway. That’s how much I care.

Apparently, it’s also still a big thing for people to sit on top of the train, though I haven’t seen it yet.

ALSO: Here are some photos of weird things I saw when I got off the train.
I found a perfectly normal bookstore, but when I went up the stairs to the ‘management’ book section, I discovered that the entire room was about 5 feet tall.

The van here is someone’s home that remains parked in front of said bookstore.

The poster above is of Amitabh Bachchan (you may remember him as the host of the Indian Who Wants to be a Millionare, which has sadly been cancelled due to Amitabh’s health) There was a big controversy over the posters for his new film Family, as his cigar smoking was seen as inappropriate. Therefore, the posters have been censored.

I remember the first time I walked around these parts, and the thousands of unusual things I saw and wished I had a camera to shoot. I wondered why I only ended up with only 4 pictures and then gasped at the realization that it has all become normal for me.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 13th, 2006 at 1:59 pm and is filed under Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.