Trains

Last night I got bitten in the head by something. I felt a sting and in the darkness and with no glasses, all I could see was something black scurry off my pillow. I have to admit I was kind of “unsettled” and didn’t sleep much afterwards but so far I am feeling fine. Hanna tried to comfort me that it probably was just a spider. I can already hear my family and friends laughing; I hate spiders!

This morning we got up to torrential rains and heavy winds. We were supposed to visit the fabric producer in Mumbai, a visit that has been rescheduled since Monday, because of rain. The plan was to meet Pooja at the train station and she would accompany us today. From tomorrow on, we would then be on our own. We were a little concerned that the producer might have been rained out again, but had no way of contacting the office, so we sent an email and off we went.

The rain and wind decided not to give us any break so we were really grateful that the first rikshaw didn’t turn us down. Still bewildered about this practice, but what can you do about it. Let me tell you, a rikshaw drive in torrential rains is nothing to laugh at! By the time we reach the train station, we were pretty much soaked and whoever writes in the newspaper not to wade through puddles obviously does not live in Mumbai during monsoon season. Mumbai is a puddle!! A very, big puddle filled with nasty water that includes all the spit (the men spit here all the time!), dog left overs (so many street dogs), and other disgusting things.

We bought our tickets to Bhayender and found the area we had agreed to meet Pooja. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. In the meanwhile, we watched the trains and morning commute and I noticed that over 90% of the people were males. It made me wonder how that impacts women’s ability to travel, something already impeded by economic, social, and in some cases even religious reasons. How confining!

When trains came rolling into the platforms, a true chaos broke out in order to have a chance to get on. I am certain that people in Mumbai can walk through each other because I have no explanation how otherwise the multitude of human bodies getting off and on at the same time possibly could fit in the doors within such a short time.

The trains reminded me of whenever I make bread in a shaped form. I will put it aside to rise and forget about it and the dough starts oozing out wherever it can. There are literally people oozing out the trains and one man was hanging on by one hand and one foot and took the moment at the station to rest on the railing next to the train before having to put his one foot back on the square inch that was his while hanging on for dear life! Other trains came rolling in and there were parties going on!! I was trying hard not to envision the ½ or 1 hour morning commute in a sardine can with chanting and tambourines going on. At least the women’s cars were much less packed.

After waiting 45 minutes past our agreed time, we figured we weren’t visiting anybody. We still do not have a phone, so our best option was to return to the apartment so we could send an email to work and find out what was going on. It felt so incredibly good to get out of the wet clothes and wash our feet. We later got an email that Pooja had been delayed because of the rain and had basically made the trip to our station for nothing. We felt awful!! The plan is that we will try it again tomorrow.