Main pehle utrungi types (I'll be the first to get off the train)

Perhaps they never won any running race in their school days. Perhaps they were always the first from the last. These people seem to have just one motto in life – Leave the world behind, be the first one to get off the train.

So they move fervently towards the door of the local train. They don’t care if the train is crowded, if their pointed heels offer acupuncture to many a feet or if their WWF champions type heavy weight body crushes the lean mean creatures around. They are dead serious when they decide, “Main pehle utrungi / utrunga” (I’ll get off first), and who knows they might even drop you dead if you come in their way!

But don’t worry. It’s not tough to recognize and save yourself from these types. If you notice any or all the following, you have spotted them right:
  • The train is packed like hell with no scope to move even your eyelids. Still you observe a person, just one person, moving her shoulders.
  • They generally make sounds like – chh…, chh chh…, shhya…, uff…
  • With heavy and big shopping bags, they occupy much greater space than their body’s diameter.
  • They manage to ask each and every person in the compartment, “Where would you get off?”, “Are you getting down at the next station?”, “Why are you standing here?”, “Are you travelling for the first time?”, “Do you have a proper train ticket?” etc.
  • They try to show that they are facing the maximum problem in the crowded train

So, keep these tips handy and have a safe journey. May you not come across the Main pehle utrungi types!

Travelling to Navi Mumbai

It's amazing how all that we feel about our things is so relative. Travelling beyond Bandra until now was like a real long journey for me. And now, when I need to travel to New Bombay a.k.a. Navi Mumbai, this journey in the western suburbs seems like child's play.

Must learn the tricks of boarding and getting off Navi Mumbai trains soon. Any tips?