The Mumbai Flavor

It was already 3:30 in the morning and I was working on a project deadline. I was packing my baggage simultaneously. I had a train few hours later. Of course, I couldn't have done anything any earlier. Last minute packing, having an important deadline or two and forgetting plenty of essentials is customary. I finally decided to catch some sleep. I had two hours of precious sleep awaiting me.

I boarded Chennai Express at 6:30 am. My cousin was there to accompany me for the journey. He was traveling to Mumbai. I had to get down at Lonavala at 3:20 am next morning. We made ourselves comfortable and placed the entire luggage to the place it deserved. Brainy (my lappy) was hibernating in the big gray suitcase.

"Can you get me some tea" asked a woman to the pantry staff. She was sitting on the opposite side of the compartment. She reminded me of some one I knew in Mumbai. "Shalin, tea" my cousin handed over a cup of hot tea. He was also holding a packet of Lays potato chips. I thought it was a weird combination but in fact it tasted pretty cool. I had a sip or two and realized that I had forgotten to brush my teeth. My cousin commented "by now all the germs are already in your stomach, so forget it". We were just four in our compartment and the train was about to leave Chennai central. I was glad, less people, calmer. There was another guy in our compartment. I later learnt that he was a network administrator/engineer.

The lady got up after a cup of tea, she was limping. She indeed had a fracture on her left leg. No wonder she was in pain. She requested the T.T.E to allot her a lower berth. "They will board at Renniguntta, you can ask them." T.T.E told her that it would be easier if she would simply request a co-passenger to adjust. We had our tickets checked and decided to get some sleep. I badly needed some sleep.

"What is your seat Number?" asked an elderly man. His voice woke me up. He was asking the lady who had stretched her leg on the seat. She gently replied "37" and folded her legs. "Why don't you sit where you have your seat" asked the old man. He was sounding a bit harsh to her. I was watching the conversation from an aerial view. I was still a bit sleepy. We had reached Renniguntta, my cousin was not to be seen. He probably must have got down getting to buy some breakfast. The lady managed to shift herself to her seat without an argument. A coolie followed into the compartment with good amount of luggage. Old man's wife, daughter and son-in-law followed. Family with a year old kid, I muttered. "Who's luggage is this?" asked the old man. The lady claimed it was her luggage and requested him to use the space under her seat instead. The old man refused. Well the old man must have been in his early 50's and the lady should have been her in late 30's. She humbly moved her luggage under her seat. The old man went on arranging his luggage in a hurry as if he was setting up a Limca Record. He asked the lady to remove her small hand baggage which was probably a bit under this guy's seat. She gave her an uneasy stare and asked him if he would mind adjusting a bit. He could indeed have easily placed the luggage with the amount of space he had. The old man shamelessly replied "remove it or I'll have to throw it out".

My cousin handed me a plate of Pongal with chutney on it. I thought it was mashed idly and started eating it. My cousin didn't have an idea about the happenings. He coolly sat on his seat.

The lady had lost her cool. It was really preposterous of a man of that age behaving in that manner. "Do you think you own this Train?" replied the lady on top her voice. "Why are you screaming, are you trying to attract people?" asked the old man. The old man passed few useless comments to his wife and daughter in Tamil convincing them that he had been very generous and now this lady is taking advantage of it. "Why can't I scream when you can behave the way you like?" asked the lady. The old man acted as if he didn't hear it. He pulled another luggage and tried to squeeze it in the area he had. In the bargain he hurt the lady's leg. The lady cried out "Don't you see uncle my leg is injured and you are hurting my leg?" I thought the old man really deserved to be thrown out by then. The lady then went on giving a lecture to the old man. She really made him feel shameful of his act. But he was still shamelessly smiling. But by now he knew if he really spoke a word ahead he would be thrown out of the train by the brave, bold lady.

I got down and sat besides my cousin, I told him what happened in the beginning. He replied "She is sure from Mumbai and can handle 10 tamiliyans like him". That was true. I have noticed that people in Mumbai are generally bold and don't give up. She then managed to change her compartment and get a lower berth in the same coach.

I felt like walking up to her to tell her that I really liked the way she defended herself and make the old man keep mum for the rest of the journey. I was already getting to experience the Mumbai Flavor before even getting to Mumbai.

Mumbai was on my travel schedule during this 11 days long trip. There is so much to learn every time I visit Mumbai. Let's see how Mumbai treats me this time!