The title of this post talks about etiquette in the local trains that ply in Mumbai, a set of rules which can be learnt only by 'regular' commuters, who brave the ordeal every day.
A journey in a Mumbai local train is an adventure by itself. With thrice as many people cramped into one half of a coach called 'First class', the experience is anything but harrowing.
I am not writing this post to carp on how difficult it is to travel by the Mumbai local, that is a well known fact, especially in the morning and evening peak hours where alighing at your destination safely makes you believe you deserve a prize and managing to get a seat in peak hours makes you feel you deserve an award or honour.
I have been traveling in Mumbai local trains for the past 7 odd years now and somehow manage to survive the ordeal each day. After these many years of travel what I have observed is, local trains have some standards or expectations when it comes to conducting oneself. Most people tend to follow them and the ones who dont are frowned upon or told off by the seniors in the field of 'Mumbai local train traveling'
Some of the observations are as follows.
1.Never get into a Borivali fast if you wish to alight at Andheri and never ever get into a Virar fast if you wish to alight at Borivali.
Now, we might say that this unofficial practice is absurd, but the daily commuters have a reason for the same, which you tend to empathise with. Commuters from Virar have to endure soul crushing hours in local trains. With space and a train both coming at a premium, a commuter who has a lot of Borivali and Andheri bound trains to choose from, but still boards a Virar fast and tries to get down at Borivali, is told off and even reprimanded.
2. Adjust your seating position with the knees alternating.
With the new age rakes being introduced in Mumbai, the area for standees has increased at the cost of space between two seats. In such conditions when you manage to get a seat, your knees are bound to knock on the person sitting across you whenever the train brakes or accelerates. The simple solution to this is, people try to sit in such a way that their knees dont face each other, the seating arrangement is offset a little. Now in such a scenario certain passengers who sit with their legs forming a 'V' in the air are frowned upon and are even sometimes advised to sit properly.
3. Be courteous enough to enquire if the person standing ahead of you plans to alight at the next station.
As soon as you cross the penultimate station before your destination, you are supposed to make your way to the line which starts from the compartment to the door and ask the person standing ahead of you if he plans to alight at the next station. If he does, no problem, since he has already confirmed that the person ahead of him will alight and that person has in turn asked someone ahead of him and so on and so forth. If he doesn't plan to alight then you and him have to practise amateur gymnastics to ensure he takes your place and you his.
4. Always avoid sitting in areas which are normally occupied by groups.
By virtue of traveling in the same local train for a number of years, people tend to form groups, the members of which, might play cards, sing songs, discuss the stock market volatility and so on and so forth. It would be good for you if you avoided sitting in places where such groups normally sit, because if you do, they will look at you as if you have occupied a reserved seat in an express train and talk among themselves with a remorseful face on how the oldest gentleman in their group couldn't sit because you sat in his place. They will ensure that you feel uncomfortable by indulging in their group activities to the hilt.
5. Bags and rules for carrying them.
If you board with a bag strapped to the front of your torso, you are expected to remove the bag and hold it in your hands. This rule also makes sense since the bag seems to occupy the space of one person and holding it in your hands will allow another person to squeeze into the coach. If you dont adhere to this rule, you might be lambasted by the senior local train commuters and some gentlemen may even start pushing and shoving your bag to demonstrate to you how much space it occupies.
If you travel with those bags which hand from your shoulders, your efforts are doubled when you try to alight. One, you have to ensure you try to inch closer to the door. Two, you also have to make arrangements for your bag to follow you.
6. Read the newspaper by folding it twice or thrice.
If you do wish to read the newspaper as the others do, in a train which is packed with people in the peak hours. You must fold the paper twice or thrice and restrict yourself to reading one page, since you anyways will not be able to change the pages with so many people packing the space around you. Veteran travelers fold their newspapers so that they read the editorials which are best enjoyed when read slowly and with some thought.
Thats all for now, as and when I learn more, Ill post....
