Mumbai Local

Mi Vishal  Mahtre aahe…I am Vishal Mahtre. I am nineteen years old and have studied up to class ten.  I live in Gopalbhai Chawl behind Badhwar Park, Colaba, with my parents, two elder sisters and a seventy five year old grandmother, all in one room with kitchen and a common bath. I work at the Dominos, Goregaon, as a delivery boy. The work is boring but I get to drive the bike, which is fun. I work in the morning to afternoon shift so I get the evenings to myself when, along with my friends, we practise dancing. Someday, we will showcase our talent in the Super Dancer Show on television.

I love Mumbai locals for they keep the city on the move. Only on days when some idiots with flags or when nature’s fury stalls the iron wheels, does the city come to a total halt but the very next day, it is life as usual. These locals are the lifeline and all this talk about the spirit of Mumbai is all bull shit. Most of us take the locals as we have to go to work and earn our daily bread. Every morning I take the 7.30 morning local to Borivali and get off at Goregaon Station. Though the journey is for about forty minutes, I never take a seat but stand at the entrance door holding the steel rod in the middle. Since the train is usually empty at that hour, I do a few tricks like swinging my body out in a perfect semi-circle to the amazement of the fellow passengers some of whom keep telling me how dangerous and fatal this act could be. Since I have my ear phones plugged into my ears, I can never hear what they are saying but surely can understand with the disapproving nodding of their heads and fingers. I just smile at the nay sayers and keep getting better with my jumps and antics.

One such day, the sun was blazing down even at around 8.00am as the train slowed down to halt at Dadar Station. On the opposite track was another train which too had made its thirty second halt at this major station. My eyes fell on a girl sitting in the other train. She was looking out of the grilled window. I tried to get a better look of her but the two trains started moving in opposite direction. There was something about the girl that I just could not explain but her image stuck in my mind all through the day as I drove around the crowded S.V. Road delivering hot pizzas and cold colas.

Photo courtesy: Indiarailinfo.com

Next day, I made sure I was at Churchgate Station much before time and took my position in the same coach as yesterday. Why was the training moving so slowly today….I wondered… or was it my mind playing games with me….I looked at my mobile and saw the time….felt relieved that the train was moving at the right pace? As the train left Elphinstone Station to move slowly towards Dadar, my heart started beating…. I could feel it go boom..boom…will she be there today? Hey Ganapati….please make sure she is there again. My Vignaharta never fails me and as the train came to a slow halt at Dadar, I could see the girl again. Ufff…she is so pretty….I said to myself. Should I jump onto the other train…I knew I could jump the distance but held myself back as I saw the train and girl roll away, leaving me terribly happy and with a deeper and better picture of the girl. She is so good….I want to see her longer than those twenty seconds….why don’t  the trains get stalled there forever….why doesn’t the electricity fail or the protestors stop the trains on their tracks? How much can I ask Ganapati to do on a single day….I am sure He can do anything but I try and limit my requests to Him to one per day.

The day after, I was once again at Churchgate station at 7.00am and did not board the two empty Borivali locals at 7.10am and 7.20am. I let them go by and waited for my usual local. No sooner had it slid into the platform than I jumped in, before anyone else could ,and then kept looking at the time on the mobile wanting the train to start on time…did not want it to be early nor late but sharp at 7.30am so that I did not miss seeing the Pretty Girl of Dadar once more today. Timing of the two trains had to be perfectly synchronized to ensure we kept meeting. The train moved ahead on time but then as luck would have it, dark clouds enveloped the sky as it reached Marine Lines. By the time the train pulled into Grant Road Station, the rain had started falling…..from a light drizzle it took little time for it to change to a heavy down pour. I could now see the people seated inside the coach pulling down the shutters to prevent the water from coming inside. They wanted to close the door but I stopped them from doing it. My fear came true as the train stopped at Dadar with the other train also standing, as it was on previous days, but with all the shutters pulled down. I stretched my neck to see inside the coach on the opposite end but could not see her despite getting completely drenched. Bappa naraaz hain aaj mujh se shayad…..I was sure she was there but I could not see her….this was my bad day indeed. Not only did I not get to see the girl but my bike skidded and my deliveries got spoilt and delayed. I got an earful from the customers and my boss deducted from my daily wages the cost of two pizzas. That’s the true spirit of Mumbai…professional to the core!

Every day is not the same and the next day it was once again bright and sunny. I wore a nice colourful shirt, set my hair properly with some gel and shaved off the goatee I had grown. By now I had begun to dream of the girl and I just could not take her off my mind whether it was with my eyes open or closed, awake or asleep. Today, the train reached slightly early and I was about to be disappointed but then the opposite train slowly pulled into the station and I could get a better look at the girl. Yes…she was sitting at the same window and she appeared to have looked at me and smiled…..had I started imagining things….did she really smile at me…..yes she did….Thank you Bappa Moriya….Jai Ho! I started jumping in joy and the people in my compartment made strange faces seeing me do a quick hand stand using the back rest of an empty seat as a support. Hurray, I said to myself... Ladki Hansi to Ladki Phansi….

Photo Courtesy: dnaindia.com

I was now determined to meet this girl soon so asked my boss for a day’s leave. You will not get paid then Vishal….I hope you have a good reason not to come to work tomorrow….Yes Sir, I have some very important work at home. Have to take my Dadi for a check-up. Ok…he said...your choice. That night I went to bed early skipping dinner. I wanted to be alone and wanted the night to myself and my dreams. As I closed my eyes, I saw her in a pretty dress come running to me….she hugged me and I started my bike with her sitting behind holding me tight. As the bike moved from one place to another, she moved her hands from my shoulder to tightly hold me by the waist as the bike picked up pace. Her hair smelled so nice…they were flying in the air and I saw her face and beautiful eyes on the rear view mirror. She had such beautiful teeth….just like they showed in the advertisements for toothpastes on the television. I took her to Chowpatty where we had Kala Khatta Gola….we shared one gola…she would taste it first and then I would follow. We sat on the sand for some time looking at each other without saying a single word.

I next drove the bike to Siddhivinayak Temple where we had a nice darshan of the Lord himself. We then went to the silver rat waiting outside and whispered our wishes into its ears. What more could I wish for but still prayed that this girl be mine and mine alone and we could live together forever loving each other. I also hoped she asked for the same things. From the temple I drove the bike to Maratha Mandir where DDLJ was running for 1002 days. We had seen the movie many times but still bought the best tickets where I got popcorn bucket and Pepsi. She let me hold her hand…oh she had such soft small hands which seemed to melt as I held them tight…very tight….as if I will never let them go. She did not mind…she looked at me and smiled and she rested her head on my shoulder.

By now, it was evening and I took her to my friends who were waiting for us. As soon as we stepped off the bike, the music began to play loud and my friends started dancing and asked us to join. This was no choreographed dance but just wild frenzy of the youth of the chawl who craved for their little joys and having a girlfriend was like winning the Olympic Gold Medal and one of them today had won one such beautiful medal. We danced for long and then the beer and biriyani flowed. She joined me in every act and matched me in everything from drinking to eating and laughing out aloud. She was an instant hit with my friends and I was happy about it. She then pointed towards the time…Oh yes…I will drop you home. We bid our friends adieu and drove away into the night…she holding me tighter than ever and me driving slower than ever wanting the drive to get longer….wish the road and night would never end….what a night…what a dream better than any in all my 6935 days of my existence on planet earth.

Vishal Uttho …it is 6.30am and you will be late for work…shouted my mother. I jumped out of my bed and quickly got ready for my big day. I rushed to Churchgate Station and boarded the 7.00 am local to Andheri and got off at Dadar Station at 7.20am. I was in my best of clothes…brand new shirt and trouser and Nike shoe, my most prized possession, shouting at me to ‘Just do it’ Swoosh! I had some time on hand so had a cutting chai and a bun maska. It was now 7.45am and my hour of reckoning was drawing near. I took up my position to board the train going towards Churchgate onto the compartment which I had calculated would be just one behind the ladies compartment where Miss Pretty Face would be seated. The crowds boarding the trains and coming out were jostling me out of my spot but I would again find my ground as a brave soldier unwilling to give up position in the face of enemy attack.

I could now see her train coming and I held my breathe…my heart was beating so loud as the train chugged in and slowly came to a stop. As her compartment passed, I saw her sitting with some other girls… oh she has friends….so how will I talk to her…I had expected her to be alone…hmmm…,anyway let me first board the train and will see what to do when I come face to face with her. The crowd tried to push me inside but here again I stood at the door with my head jutting out at every station to see if the girl had got off. But she did not and the train reached the final station at Churchgate. I got off now and moved closer to the ladies compartment and I saw her coming towards the exit and then she stepped down. I pulled down my cap over my face a bit so that she could not see me. I started walking a couple of steps behind her and her friends. I stretched to overhear what she was saying but in the din of the station could not hear anything. I walked quickly past her and after about twenty steps turned around to face her. Ohhh she truly had a beautiful face with flowing, dark hair and was wearing a simple salwar kameez and had a bag slung over her left shoulder. Why is she making so many movements with her finger? I stood still with my eyes on her ….she was not saying anything with her mouth but talking with her friends with her fingers and facial expressions.

I stood still and let her walk past. I found myself an empty bench where I sat down looking at the station ceiling oblivious of the maddening crowds rushing everywhere. After a while, took the 9.00am train to Borivali and reached my work place. I told my boss that Dadi was better today so had returned to work. He abused me for being late but since the festive season was around and work orders were heavy so an extra hand for delivery was always welcome. I worked longer that day and returned home late. I had dinner and was dead tired and hit the bed and did not dream of anything. Next morning I got up and said a little prayer. Hey Mere Bappa….every day I come to you selfishly asking for one boon after another for myself but today I am asking you to please give the girl her ability to speak. It does not matter whether I get to make her my girlfriend or not. She is beautiful….she deserves your help.

I still take the 7.30am Borivali local from Churchgate. Nowadays, I started watching some YouTube videos on how to use sign language, a few I already know as part of my dancing routines….I plan to test my skills for the first time tomorrow by waving to her, Hello…Hi…how are you….hope she sees me and waves back. Even if she does not reciprocate, it is ok as long as she sits there at the window seat, looking out and smiling….she is after all my daily dose twenty seconds of supreme joy.

SS