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A Journey to Madh Island - Part 1

Waking up in the early hours of the day I decided to visit Madh Island. Having heard the name of the place and knowing its somewhere in Mumbai. I wondered where would it be. Nearest station near Madh Island is Malad the Google Assistant told me promptly. It was seven thirty in the morning. I was packing my bag with a bottle of water, crisps, and snacks for the day. The gentle luminescence of the sun spread across the road leading out of my society was inviting. The birds where chirping as the gay parrots flew across the blue sky. I went out of the gate and started walking towards the bus stop for the station basking in the vitality of the sun.

A few people were aboard as I found many empty seats on the bus. The conductor was maneuvering through the crowd giving away tickets to the passengers. I took a window seat and was gazing past the window. The world beyond the window was a mystery as it unfurled before my eyes. I was bewildered and wanted to go all out into it wholeheartedly and with certain spontaneity. The bus kept moving amidst the traffic and construction blocks. It entered the bazaar of Thane which was abuzz with people buying essentials, apparels, and bags in the wee hours of the day. The eateries where all filled with enthusiastic voices and tempting smell of the food.

The bus stopped as it came up the ramp. The Overhead platform was full of passengers traveling. The queue near the ticket counter was moving along in an auto-pilot mode. I asked for a return ticket from Malad. Now the journey had begun and I was excited. Madh Island was completely alien to me and that made the anticipation more thrilling. Waiting on the platform for a Dadar bound train I was thumbing through ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ by revolutionary South American Leader Che Guevara.

The crowd was less dense in the train as I got in easily and found a seat near the window. The train chugged from the Thane station towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus previously known as Victoria Terminus. Most people sat in the train with an anxious, tensed expression on their face. I could feel that an exam paper was on its way to being solved in the train. The train passed by the unattractive slums, the monotonous stations and reached Dadar that is one of the busiest stations on the Central Line.

At Dadar, western line bound trains to halt. I scurried past the ever increasing and omnipresent crowd and got on the platform as a Borivali bound train was about to leave the platform. The western line is much elegant than the central line. The crowd is more civilized and mannered it seems here. It was over thirty minutes before I could get down at Malad. Meanwhile, I got on with the pages of ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’. The sun was well overhead now and was blazing profoundly. The tracks were gleaming in the sunlight. I got up as Malad station was visibly near. The platform had a solitary shop of snacks and beverages. Many passengers were waiting for their trains. I searched Madh Island in Google Maps it was too long a journey to take a walk. ‘I need a bus’. I thought as I came out of the station.

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