Sunday, May 13, 2007

5 Things you might not know about the local trains

  1. The dirt and garbage from the platforms which is sweeped by the workers is thrown on the tracks; thus generating more work for the rag-pickers or merely pushing the dirt under the carpet (carpet being the bed of rocks)
  2. The floors of the trains are cleaned by the beggar children and the passengers willingly pay them money for their "services"
  3. Surprisingly, there isn't any need for the beggars to clean the first-class compartments; either the people there don't litter or the railways ensure that the compartment is clean
  4. Most of the railways stations have toilets for men only, and if you're lucky to find one for the women, check again, there might be a lock on the door!
  5. There's a queue for everything :
- For the window seat there are "claims" so the moment you get one, you're flooded with requests about where you'll get down so that they get your seat, it's the most common reason for an argument as well!
- There's a claim for the "fourth" seat as well.. (There are only three seats)
- There are proper queues for exits at stations, in fast trains especially, if you are in the wrong queue you've missed your stop! literally...

3 comments:

clickable said...

Words from a pro! Whenever I've travelled on a Mumbai local, I've always been bullied by fisherwomen who've threatened to throw me off or by really aggressive Virar train women.

Radha said...

The worst thing is people wake up a person who is catching a nap by poking their finger into his/her arm and then ask sweetly 'can i sit there after you get off?'.

~ a said...

that's so true! to combat this, nowadays irrespective of where you are getting down, people purposely say "last stop" so that they don't bother you anymore!! :)