Traveling by waterfall

It’s a unique experience to be traveling within a waterfall. Imagine yourself seated and a portable waterfall alongside spitter-spatters cool drops of water on your face. And this while you’re traveling!

To avail of this experience you’ll have to travel by the railways in Mumbai, during the rainy season.

Not only the window, but even the roof of the train will splash water on your head, face, bag and so on. So enjoy the waterfall ride.

Boats for 26/7

Churchgate station witnessed a host of changes in the past few days. First of all an array of walk through metal detectors were installed. Good heavens for that- one metal detector that had loyally stood all alone in a corner of the large station has finally found some companions and also now its presence makes some sense. Or else, all these years no one even bothered to check whether it functions or not, by walking through it. It had endured this loneliness for too long now.
However, my head was spinning all this while. After all why was the station being made all so “secure”? Then on 7/11 when I saw many healthy Labradors doing the rounds of the station and some politician giving a speech, everything clicked. Of course these security measures were being taken since 7/11 was approaching.
So, on the big- day the station was flooded with security officials. Hats-off to our security forces. I guess on 7/26 we shall see many boats on the roads.
What if it decides flood on the same day?

Coupon punching machine

The absence of functional railway coupon punching machines in Mumbai


Mumbai is an overpopulated metro in a rush. And its railways have the highest passenger density of any urban railway system in the world. Hence it is an extremely tedious and demanding task to travel by these overloaded railways- packed with men as if they were cattle. The battle, however, begins with trying to acquire a ticket to these railways. One has to stand in a never-ending queue or else one might try to end this misery by purchasing railway coupons. But no, this isn’t that easy. First you have to evade through hordes of people (fight with some) and purchase a coupon. Then you go to the coupon punching machine; a sign board either says ‘out of order’, or else in its absence you try getting your coupons punched and realize, like Sisyphus, the futility of your attempts. Having realized that one hunts for the stamps with date and station name on them in frenzy and then finds them – two dirty stamps tied with a dirty rope to an equally dirty ticket window. Well once this date stamp had the wrong date on it. A kind passenger saved the other commuters from the T. C.’s wrath by correcting this date; in the process the man ended up staining his entire hands in blue ink. And this in the financial capital of India! I won’t deign to imagine the condition of places elsewhere in India.


In order to capture this I have written a poem as follows:

The coupon punching machine

The coupon punching machine.
The fat man who’s hardly ever working!
Whenever I go he’s on leave
Due to some ailment;
Last time he was handicapped.
Miserable condition I must say.
Poor thing!
Finally he succumbed
To his illnesses.
Now there are
Two wires dangling
Where he sat lazily,
And two stamps elsewhere
At a ticket window.
May his soul rest in peace.