This city and I have a very
rocky relationship.
It’s been so good to me, and it’s
been the worst to me.
I know, I am writing after a
very long time, but I didn't want to clog this blog up from fictional stories
and take away the real essence, from the message I wanted to spread through
this blog.
Bombay, Mumbai, call it
whatever you want. The name doesn't change anything.
Sure, we still argue with the
fact that which one sounds better, but we can't do anything about it, can we?
So my love revived for this
city, a couple of days back.
My commute is very convenient
to be frank, there's nothing to complain about.
But, that day the trains were
uber late, and Vashi looked like Kurla at peak hours. (Get the picture?)
After waiting for almost 30
minutes, the train arrived, I managed to get into the train, fortunately got a
seat.
After a few stations,I saw a woman who looked quite lost, and you instantly realise that someone is a
first time traveler, if she is not fighting back with the hyper lady with ten
bags yelling her lungs out to get some space.
I asked her to get inside and
utilise the little space left , she asked me when does Koliwada come?
Now, Koliwada is a le-man's
name for GTB station. (Not a lot of people know that)
I asked her to wait till I tell
her to get down.
While conversing with me, out
of nowhere, she started crying.
Now, I am not a person who
comforts someone when they cry, I don't know how to react. (I am working on it)
So, this lady next to me
eventually asked her why was she crying.
She then began to tell us that
her husband had met with an accident, and she was going to Sion hospital.
She was not from Bombay and had never traveled alone. She didn't know what to
do as she had no money and his husband was the sole bread-winner.
All the women listened to her
and there was silence in that hustled little compartment.
GTB was about to arrive.
I had to break the silence, I
reminded her that she had to get down at the next station.
All the women around me removed
money from their wallets, so that she could catch a cab from the station to the
hospital, and not get lost on her way. We gave her some money, she resented,
but all of them forced her, ultimately she gave in.
When she got down, there was a
cop, we called him from the train and asked him to guide her to reach the
hospital, and hoped that she would reach the hospital safely.
This was a very small gesture.
But it made that lady's day a
little better.
This is Bombay; it helps you, makes
your life a little better, even if it’s having a bad day.
Sure, it has drainage issues,
irregular trains and much more, but it is also a blessing.
This incident wouldn't affect
you.
But it put a smile on my face.
It gave me hope that good things
can happen, no matter what.
