GETTING ON BOARD ....

As usual, the day begins with a hasty walk to the railway station with one eye constantly affixed on the watch and the other ocassionally looking along the road. Years of diligent trodding along the same pavements have made me master the meandering moves making it unnecessary to constantly watch the route. The other eye, however, acts as a control signal to the brain that adjusts my near to running speed so as not to miss the 7:59 am local train. This is extremely important so as to avoid the next hour and half of sleep from being impreganted with thoughts of possible explanations for being late. The perennial reason of the train being late by now has far outlived its validity.

Einstein said there are just 12 people on earth who understand relativity. Mr. Einstein, I think the assertion was immature and showed the lack of foresight. Lakhs of Mumbaikars understand and experience relativity everyday wherein the clock seems to tick faster as the 7:59 deadline approaches. The legs keep accelerating with every passing tick but are still intelligent enough to conserve energy for the final stroke, the sprint to catch the train. I assure you that every Mumbaite can give even the Olympic Gold Medal winners a run for their money when it comes to sprinting and catching trains. After all, they have been practising in real life conditions for years with two sprints everyday.

Now talking of train catching sprints, it is far from the simple and monotonous 100m races at Olympics on even and predictabe track fields. Here the track, or should I say the terrain, is a mini-version of the Tour de France. It begins with a, two stairs in one move, ascend to the bridge, followed by a run to the other end and a jumping descend to the railway platform. A short detour is also available for the adventourous lot by avoiding the bridge and running over the "tracks". With finally having reached the platform, the next thing is to outpace the already departed train and board it. Though leaning out of a running train is said to be dangerous by many a awareness campaign, these people serve as God-send Angels for last last moment train catchers .... the final jerk to get you on board ..... the life saving arm-pull.

Phew ... !!! So, finally in !! Well, its just the beginning of the journey. Lots more to come ..... Keep checking out .....

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Chetan Bhadricha

Kabhi na rukti, Chalti jaati ,
Yeh Bharat ki shaan ,
Yeh hai Mumbai , Yeh hai Mumbai ,
Yeh hai Mumbai , Meri Jaan