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A day in Mumbai - Part 1

The morning sun was shimmering in the sky through the clouds as I woke up in my bedroom wrapped in the comfort of my sheets. It was the month of August the mist-laden greenery was drenched with a few late night showers. I quickly got out of the bed to get ready for the day ahead. My mom had made delicious parathas, I polished them off with some curd and washed them down with a cup of milk. Having satiated my hunger I began my journey.

It was 8 in the morning as I was waiting for the share auto-rickshaw. The line seemed to be going nowhere just then the city bus came along. I hopped in the bus to find every seat occupied by the passengers. I stood near the emergency exit window. I took out The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien and began thumbing it. Soon the bus was filled to its capacity with people, students. The conductor came I bought a ticket to drop me at the Thane Station. He gave away the ticket in a hurried manner and went into the crowd ahead.

Getting down near the bus depot near the Thane station I was trying to find my way through crowd and buses lined up together on the road one behind the other. It's fascinating to see the dance of energy of all commuters with their hurried steps. They entered the platform to board their train, Hawkers were selling their goods and people were running errands. I was walking towards the platform as a girl walked in from the crowd and asked, “Where is ABC Book Depot?” “Take a left from here and right and then another right you will find your Book Depot,” I said. She had a deep dark set of eyes which seemed to contrast her fair skin. She had a slim figure and curly hair. She was beautiful for a girl next door. But she looked confused. “I would take you there,” I said. “That would be amazing.” She said.

Which book are you going to buy?” I asked trying to strike up a lively conversation. “Actually my colleague is waiting for me near the Book Depot.” She said as we crossed the road. “I am Sanket, I study computer engineering,” I said. “I am Sana, I am studying CA.” She said. “You are a number women,” I said. “Yeah, I love mathematics, its like poetry.” She said with a certain degree of affection. We reached the book depot. She thanked me as I wished her to have a nice day and waved good bye as I began walking towards the station.

The train was coming on platform 1. People pushed themselves inside shoving aside the one’ getting down. I too ended up getting on the train thanks to the crowd behind me. An inch of space in the train is what most people dream of when they are standing on the platform and to turn that dream into reality they would literally do anything. The trains are called the Lifeline of the Mumbai but traveling safely on trains is an adventure in itself. The official body with all its efforts still falls short to provide a safe travel experience. But we somehow manage to travel with daily keeping our essentials together.

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