“The city has it’s own style to make you run..”

First Day of my official posting in Mumbai, 8.40 am. Andheri Station.

“The city has it’s own style to make you run..”

As described by a lot of authors and picturized in dozens of the Bollywood movies, I could feel the enthusiasm and unexplainable form of energy running through my body. The mind was engrossed in receiving the rapid fire of instruction by my uncle about the Do’s and the Don’ts. I could see the local train in front of me that I would be soon riding into. I was excited, and nervous. And a dramatic thought of me missing the train, chasing and climbing it got choreographed in my mind. And as anticipated, the train started moving forward. WTF!! I could literally see myself being late in the office on the first day. And the thought of happening the same thing again and again everyday just traumatized me.

But hey, it’s Mumbai. As people say, “Yahanh pe teen cheezo ke piche kabhi nahi bhagna chahiye.. Bus, Train aur Ladki. Ek jaati he, Dusri aati he!!” And I heard the arrival of the next Local within couple of minutes. I felt the sigh of relief. And the day started.

Being tagged (Read ‘Officially Posted’) as Manager – Business Analytics (believe it or not, the so called Manager tag does give you some kind of (over)confidence!!) in Mumbai, pursued my mind very clear about traveling (only) in First Class. The city has some of the unique characteristics in its own. For example, if you’re a First Class traveler, you don’t require standing in a queue to purchase the ticket. You can just walk over to the window ignoring the looooong queue (!!!). That’s pretty cool, I thought. So I just walked over to the window, and my first encounter with the Mumbaiya Gal.

“Helow mister.. What are you doing??? Can’t you see the queue?? How can you just walk over ignoring the queue?? We are standing for so long to get the ticket. ’Have to catch the train.” It was like bombarding.

“But ‘have to buy a First Class ticket, for which there’s no line.” I said.

“What do you mean no line for First Class? You have money that doesn’t mean we stand for so long in queue and you just don care about” And so on and on. Woha!! I was literally set aback. My mind just stopped sending the reaction commands. Thank to the other First Class Mumbaiya traveler who rescued me from the situation, and finally I had a First Class ticket.

The office where I work is in southern Mumabi, the placed called VT – Victoria Terminus. Like the name only, it gives the glimpse of the British era. The buildings are Old and Marvelous. The roads are just wide enough to keep the dense green trees on both the sides apart from other, allowing the warm sunrays to light the earth surface. The area has been preferred by the legendary companies to establish their HQs. It also incorporates some of the govt. departments within its boundary. My office is situated on one side of a particular road which has a dock on its other side. It gives an excellent view from the top floor of the building to glance at the Ships movements, in the Dock as well as in the deep sea.

The first day at office passed in the curiosity to know about the work, work culture and the culture (in and around the office!!) The day ended in quiet a peaceful manner with an end note, making the coming days miserable, saying: “Punch in before 9 am, from Tomorrow.”

If I tell you about the geography of Mumbai, Andheri – the place I stay is 25 kms from VT. If someone takes the option of riding his car, his 16.67% of his day is gone on the road itself. And if Local Train is to be chosen, it comes to only 3 hrs in total. No wonder why Mumbai people chose to travel in the local trains even hanging outside the door or sitting on the roof. So my meaning of saying all these things was to make you realize that for reaching office at 9 in the morning, I’ve to wake up at 6.30 every morning. S**t!

With some kind of never-felt-before stress in mind, I started my journey to end the 1st day. While going back, just for the sake experience I bought the Second Class ticket. Yes, by standing in the looong queue. (Just to make comparison, 2nd class ticket is somewhere close to one tenth of the 1st class fare! I made some calculations in my mind. No way, my travelling expanse is going to grow by 975%. Wot??? This is one of the drawbacks of being an Analyst.)

I was waiting for the 6.06 pm train. The moment the train arrived (not completely) people started climbing on and getting off at the same time. Some how I could manage to get in the mass and surprisingly, I could get a place to seat. The ride started with the inquisitiveness to encounter the experience of traveling in second class. Time passed by and train started accommodating people like the never ending hunger of a politician. A time came when it was very difficult for anyone, who was standing, to raise the hand to scratch his head.
The tragic trip ended exactly after 42 mins of first class experience of travelling in second class. And so does the day.