Monday, December 7, 2009

The 'Jab We Met' experience...................

Prologue -
--> Jab We Met is a Hindi movie in which the female protagonist misses her train and then meets a guy with whom she eventually falls in love. Lovely movie- go watch it if you have not. :)
--> Mumbai Central, Kurla, Byculla, Dockyard Road, Borivali are all sub-urban stations of Bombay, and the city is full of countless such stations for the local trains.

7th December, 2009

We all have heard about the 'kissas' that keep happening day in and day out in the city of Bombay. I too heard them. But, today it was my turn to witness one such 'kissa' first hand. (A 'kissa' is an interesting incident.)

After a lot of trouble, I had managed to get a confirmed ticket for going from Bombay to Amritsar. The scheduled time for departure of the train was 9.25 pm on 7th December, 2009, from Mumbai Central.

7th December also happens to be my Mom's b'day. That was the reason why I had booked my ticket on a night train. But then, since I was leaving, my Mom decided to celebrate it with our family at my maternal home. So, we left together and stopped for 5 minutes to buy a cake for her. I had decided to travel by a local train to reach the boarding station, since going by road in the rush hour would amount to foolishness. I reached Kurla from where I was supposed to get on another local for Byculla and get a taxi from there to reach Mumbai Central. Bombay and its commuting...PHEW!!

All this would normally take around 1 hour. We left the cake shop at 8.40. (First mistake -10 minutes late.) We reached Kurla at 8.50 and I quickly boarded a train that would take me to Mumbai CST (a terminus for all local trains) by literally jumping onto a moving train. After a while I asked a co-passenger about the time it would take to reach Byculla. He said around 15 minutes, and I thought, 'Okay, I think I would make it'. After a couple of minutes, he said that, 'You want to go to Byculla?? This train is a harbour line train, and it does not go to Byculla!!' (Bombay has 3 lines of local trains - Western , Central & Harbour, & Byculla is on the Central line.) I was shocked!! I knew well about the different lines, but in my hurry to get on a train, I did not realize that I had got on a harbour line train. (Second mistake that cost me 5 crucial minutes.) I called up a friend and asked about the nearest station to Byculla on the harbour line, since all the lines of local train lines run parallel to each other. I got off at a station called Dockyard Road. I ran and got on a cab, and asked the cabbie to get me to Mumbai Central ASAP, and also offered to pay extra to him for getting me there in lesser time. We hit traffic, but still managed to reach by 9.25. I was praying all through. I got off the cab, jumped over the divider and RAN. I got a porter to grab my baggage and ran with him. I reached the platform from where the train was to leave...huffing and panting.

I could see the train's end. It was chugging away, slowly. It had left on time, and I had reached about 2 minutes late. I had missed the train................................................

I quickly decided to run and try to catch the train from the next stop called Borivali, the last stop of my train in Bombay. I hopped on the local train completely packed with the rush hour crowd. People advised me against getting on the train, since it was very crowded, and it would only get more crowded before reaching Borivali, thus making it almost impossible to get off. 2 bags and a laptop bag would not have made my task any easier. But, still I had to get on it, if I was to have any chance of making it in time to get on my missed train. I explained my predicament to the co-passengers, and was delighted to see that all of them were ready to accommodate a silly guy who was trying to catch a train. One of them gave me space to stand with my bags, another one told me about how much time the train would take to reach Borivali, and yet another guy tried to calm me by saying that I would reach in time. I got to know from the railway inquiry (computerised and manual, both), that the train was running late by 22 mins, and thus it would reach at 10.24 pm. I called repeatedly to confirm the same and was relieved when I got the same info each time i called. I thought that I just might make it. One guy even called up his friend to find out if my train was indeed running late. He even offered to help me get down off the crowded train, and eventually did so too. I LOVE Bombay, and its lovely people. :)

I reached Borivali at 10.14 and could not find the train anywhere. I inquired at a tea stall, and got to know that the train had LEFT. At its scheduled time of 10.06. I reconfirmed the same at the Ticket Checker's office. The railway inquiry was wrong.

OMG I missed the train!! For the first time in my life, I had missed a train. And that too right in the beginning of a fortnight long trip.

Some might term it as irresponsible behaviour on my part, or maybe laugh it off, or hold me responsible and scold me, or even say that 'you advertised about your trip to everyone, toh pakka kisi ki nazar lag gayi hai'. I agree, it was irresponsible on my part, and I should have left earlier, and with a buffer on my hand. It was funny to a certain extent as well. But, still it has been a great learning experience. It was a first in my life, and I hope it would be the last. And somehow, as soon as the realization sunk in that the train has left, I somehow had the feeling that it happened for the good.

So, now I have booked a ticket for 10th, and I would be skipping the Amritsar leg of the trip. (I guess Babaji wants me to come to him at some other time.)

This is how my 'Jab We Met' experience unfolded. Full of drama, tension, helpful Mumbaikars, running around, and ironies, but sadly without 'my Kareena'!! :P

PS - This post is a narrative of the day's dramatic events, as well as a confusing guide to the confusing commute of the Bombay city. LOL

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Kareena na milne ka ghum hai ya Train nikal jaane ka :P

Amit said...

this is to show how can life be interesting without girls too :D

Amruta said...

it ws damn hilarious... surprised dt u are not that accustomed to the locals.... :P bt it ws total fun to read abt d jab we met incident... :)

Unknown said...

It is funny, it is tragic but above all, it says everything doesn't happen the way way, we expect or want. But, best part is, you have learnt out of it. Good. And better part is, you are bold enough to share it with the world. Keep up your values and your boldness.......

Karan said...

@ Netika - donon ka!! :P

Karan said...

@ Amit - Well.. Life is always interesting and full of surprises!! It keeps throwing up many 'Firsts' frequently. Some of the Firsts involve girls, and some don't. :) This First for me didn't involve any. :)

Karan said...

@ Amruta - I was totally accustomed to locals and their rush. But it seems that I had kinda lost touch since I got on a local after a long time. I somehow prefer my own bike or car these days. Mehnga pad gaya!! lol.. :)

And I'm glad that you find it funny. Such incidents make you laugh and also teach you a lot at the same time. :)

Karan said...

@ Dad - I totally agree to what you said Dad. :) Life is full of surprises, and does not happen the way we want it to shape up. And in hindsight, most of the times, what happens, happens for the good.

And yes, I have learnt a lesson. No more missed trains or flights now. :)

Sharing with friends is okay. Someone might learn a bit from it, or get a small laugh. So its good. :) Plus now it is frozen in time forever. No actually it is frozen on the Google servers!! lol.. :P

bondgal_rulz said...

Love the post AND your spirit. :)

The Double Inverted Commas said...

Hey that was a fun post. Totally enjoyed reading it. Btw you have a lovely blog template.

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

Karan said...

@ Anonymous - Thanks for your compliment. And i would like to point out that, be it my first post or this post, i have always written with full heart in it. So, maybe the moods differ. Only thing that i have definitely improved upon, on recommendation from a dear friend, is that now i write in a more presentable form and use lesser sms language as compared to what i used to earlier. Maybe that has made the posts looks better. :)

Karan said...

@ Double Inverted Commas - Thanks a lot for your compliments. I would not say that i enjoyed that incident, but i sure enjoyed sharing it with friends and laughing about it in hindsight. lol.. :) ..

And I'm glad that you liked the template. It is in line with the theme of my blog - 'Spring Blossoms'..

Also, Thank you for becoming a follower of my blog. :) .. Keep visiting.. :)

Karan said...

@ Isha - Post .. thanks.. :) .. Spirit.. Awwww... :) .. Thanks a LOT bud.. :) ..

Vasudha Narasimhan said...

nice blog !!!!http://cherishingspaces.blogspot.com/

Karan said...

@ Vasudha - Thanks a lot! :) I was dormant for a long time, and trying to make a comeback now. :)