Life=Train Journey

So as a fellow Mumbaikar I travel by train a lot. It’s convenient, cheap, no need to worry for people like me who don’t know their roads. And well, Mumbai is sort of known for their local trains. But today when I was going to catch a train a certain theory sort of dawned on me. Catching a local train in Mumbai literally equated to life.

Don’t believe me?  I’ll prove is to you.

Let’s equate every train that comes to an opportunity. So there are some trains that come more frequently than others. If you are looking to catch a train that comes frequently, don’t rush to the railway station, don’t climb without a ticket, and if you do miss it, don’t feel too bad about it. The other one is on its way. Don’t regret it too much. Then there are those trains that come once in an hour or once in two hours. Now, those trains are important. They won’t come again and again and there will be more passengers too cause they don’t come too often. Be well prepared for those trains. Buy your ticket in advance, know the time at which the train is coming, reach in advance, rush to climb into the train so that you can get a seat. But if you do end up missing that train as well, don’t regret it either. Nothing is worth regret. Think about, well, other modes of transport. There is the bus, or rickshaw or you can go by foot but don’t change your destination however difficult the journey gets. Or you can choose to wait for another train. And the fortunate thing is that you will be prepared for this one.

There are long journeys and short ones. In a long one you probably manage to grab a seat, hell, even a window one. But then there are the short ones in which you have to climb at Parle and get down at Mahim. In this you might have to stand the entire way and even with half your body lolling out.

There are those that are really crowded and then there are those that are barely filled. Which one do you want? Don’t go where the crowd goes. Find your own way out.

And of course, like normal life, even the train is divided into classes. If you are in the second one, try your hardest to get into the first one but don’t get greedy about it either. There isn’t anything amazing about the first class. Just some cushioned seats and the journey is mostly a short one. So be satisfied if you can with your second class but then don’t kill the desire to be in the first class either.

Lastly, I don’t mean to sound wise because I am not wise. This is just something that got me thinking. You are welcome to come and ridicule my theory.

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