The Mumbai Local Is A Death Trap 1

By Manuwant Choudhary

I can imagine what must have happened on that foot-over-bridge at Elphinstone Road station a few days ago, because although I do not live in Mumbai, like Salman Rushdie I still call the city My Bombay !

But local trains have always been a part of my painful memory of the city - a gross human rights violation.

Yet people travel every day for hours to come to work in South Bombay or return to distant Borivili late every night...I don't blame anyone for calling it a lifeline.

Because without the local train..Bombay will grind to a halt.

A driver I knew told me once, "Sir, the only day I meet my children is Sunday. Otherwise on all other days I leave for work at 4 am when they are sleeping and get back home at 11 pm..when they are asleep !"

But when the stampede happened I searched for news on Midday - a popular city tabloid.

Its like instinct..as a reporter from Afternoon it had been my job to check competition.

I have commuted on the Mumbai local but mainly for work, not as commuters would because I chose to live illegally in South Mumbai rather than live legally in a suburb and travel every day.

But whenever I did, it was eventful.

Once as we waited for a local, they were all so crowded that we could not even manage to place a toe inside...

But like in all difficult situations there is always a trick.

Here it is.

You don't board a Mumbai local..all you have to do is squeeze yourself between the crowds and the crowds will push you onto the train.

Inside there is no space to even move...sweaty bodies against each other...all you can do is watch someone's tired face, returning from work.

But suddenly out of nowhere someone would hold this thin briefcase and lo and behold it would turn into a table...pressed against the human body..with no support whatsoever.

One of them would pull out cards and the game would begin...3 hours gone !

I just marvelled.

The toughest part was figuring out whether Andheri would come on the right or left. There were no announcements like you have on the Metro.

So you just have to ask someone who travels daily or observe some crowd movement two stations before yours...if you really want to get off at the right station.

I rarely got that right...often travelling farther and then returning....