He was on the platform # 7, for his usual Churchgate Fast. He always came with enough time at hand to get the train, in fact he had in excess of 35 minutes, since the trains keep coming one after the other. The platform was as crowded as usually it is, every day. Now it was more crowded or less crowded will depend upon who is judging it and where does he hail from, but to him crowd did not bother. He felt it was his crowd. It made him feel at home, whether he was being pushed around by it or not.
Sound ambiance had a loud wooden ‘thuk-thuk’ sound all over other noises. It reminded him of 5.1 Dolby mixing days. He would add this sound in tracks of general ambiance. Source of this ‘thuk-thuk’ was many shoe polish guys on the platform. When they don’t have a customer they bang the polish brush on their wooden box to attract next pair of shoes. Of late shoe polish customers have dwindled drastically. He had figured it on his own quite some time back. Sports shoes were the culprit, since they don’t need to be polished. In fact one day he especially wore his brown leather shoes to get them polished by one of these guys. That was a kind thought.
Churchgate train arrived. Entire crowd moved forward much before the train even slowed down. He also moved ahead hesitatingly. As the train slowed all people who were hanging at the door, jumped off on the platform. Some did their long jump well, but others hit passengers on the platform due to speed and bad judgement. Some even survived a bad fall. There was no time to fight or even grumble. It would not be more than a, ‘kya yaar’ (what man!). After the jump item, passengers from inside started getting thrown out with great force. Maybe like lava from a volcano, like they had no control in being thrown out. Passengers on the platform were looking at the slowing train greedily, like a hungry dog eyes a juicy bone. De-boarding passengers make a very loud ‘roar’ like sound to scare everyone trying enter in, so that their exit is not blocked. After the lava of passengers turned into a trickle, people from platform rushed closer to the train. He also moved forward but wasn’t sure if he will be able to get it. He stopped a little away from the train. He knew it was difficult and he had time at hand. Soon all the activity ceased and slowly train slipped off. Unsuccessful people started eyeing the indicator to get the time of next train. It was after 6 minutes. 6 minutes is hardly any time. It will be over in no more than 2-3 minutes; he thought.
When people come out of the train without torn clothes and intact wallets can be termed an achievement of the day. He was back to the same spot where he stood earlier, behind the pillar. Trains on the other platforms were going up and down without any war cries, because they were going to the suburbs. Passengers were entering and getting off calmly. But going to town is real life, tough, struggle,
Next train arrived. The crowd moved forward in the same aggressive way. First people jumped off onto the platform. Once again thick lava of screaming passengers jutting out became a trickle. Somehow this time he did not follow movements of the crowd. He had ignored the roar also. He had noticed a crack in the high density of bodies on the left of a compartment door, even before the train came to complete halt. At the right moment he rushed forward and vanished in like a flash. Train stopped, people roared, de-boarded, they pushed hard to get inside etc. etc… Train rolled slowly.
Nobody can see him now. But surely along with thousands others he will also reach his destination soon, hopefully with his shirt and wallet intact.
A new set of actors had arrived for the next Churchgate-fast.
