Commuting Mumbai Style

Date: 2010/10/14

Boarding a train is exceptionally easy. All you have to do is wait for
the train to stop and then you step on. Boarding a commuter train in
Mumbai is not so easy. Two trains stopped and left the station while I
stood there scratching my head in disbelief. For starters the train
stopped for under a minute leaving very little time to choose the
right compartment. Some were first class, others were only for ladies
or disabled people. (The disabled carriage also included cancer
victoms represented by the cancer zodiac symbol of a crab). All were
so packed that people literally hung out the doors. Yet I was the only
one left on the platform when the train left. How did these people get
on?  It wasn't even rush hour yet.

The secret is to go near the people hanging from the door. They pull
you in like a giant octopus and you are left on the outside hanging on
for dear life feet half on the train half on. As people get off you
graduate in status to the inside of the train and in a miracle you
even get a seat.

In a nine car train over 4500 people can squeeze in allowing 3 million
to use the two commuter lines daily. Thats 10 people in each square
meter of train at the busiest times. With the closeness comes the
community. In the afternoon groups of women will peel vegetables on
the commute to save time cooking at home. Men form imprompu choirs and
sing.

The train is not all cramped happiness. Four thousand people are
killed by the train yearly. These are mostly slum dwellers whose tents
are often a meter from the track. Their children lacking space often
play on the tracks with disasterous consequences. Others are killed
when they hang out the doors and are removed by objects unexpectedly
close (and solid) as the train speeds past.

Safety doesn't seem to be an issue for Indians. I meet a teenage boy
on board and while talking to me he drops his cell phone as we pull
into a station. The phone bounces out of the train and onto the track
next to us. He jumps out of the train and runs back to pick it up
without even a glance to see if another train is approaching. He
climbs back on bioard with a grin and asks to be facebook friends with
me.