Stuntman's Local

I bet Bombay's Local trains are by far the best, the world can throw at you !! Trust me... You get to stand on the ledge, experience the shortness and suddenness of life. You understand the closeness that the railways want to bring, literally. I mean, in these days when we have forgotten that all us human beings have come from the same mud, the railway is a breath of air you feel is necessary in these selfish city.Dont be scared. I dont work for the railways. I travel by the Locals daily and the only way I can laugh off the mess thats called the Suburban rail is through satire. It brings out the extremes of human behaviour. Usually mild mannered suburban travellers and chaps with desk jobs become the most ferocious verbal fighters threatening to vanquish fellow passenger foes with the ire of Odin and the power of Zeus. It seems comical at its worst to see people compressed to half their volume, breathing each others Carbon Dioxide and standing in an awkward and rather funny poses.Business Line calls it the symbol of "Mumbai's spirit"Boarding time in rush hourI call these guys potential stuntmen in the making. Putting their life on the line (lets not call it reckless endangerment) to reach their place of work. You won't find more people committed to their job. This photo also portrays a sense of confidence on the limbs of these nimble athletes. Such confidence that it blinds them to the dangers of such tricks. Bollywood should stop making silly movies based on flimsy stunts like Dhoom and the series that follows... trust me, its flimsy... these are the stunts you must hold a candle to.And if you ask me whether I do this, NO... I far less dedicated than these "stuntmen" and I am far too selfish in the way that I dont believe that "Reaching early is more important than reaching alive". And neither do I have the supreme confidence on my limbs that I must try these things.With such agile and nimble athletes around us, its a wonder how Indians do not win Olympic medals in Gymnastics. Okay now back to the point, Business Line and many other publications call it the "Indomitable spirit of the Mumbaikar" and "Against all Odds attitude of Mumbai". I call it madness and an apathy on part of the government machinery.Now being from an Electronics and Electrical Engineering background, I know very well what hell can be let loose if someone comes even close to the power lines running above the locals. Alright, I accept you don't even need to be literate to understand the dangers of lurking close to the power lines. But that is no deterance to our brave stuntmen who are known to travel on top of the local train roof, just inches from the cable. Often we see cases of electrocution as a result but thats no deterence either, one guy falls the other is ready to take his place !!Alright, this was about the rants about the Locals. Now I can name a few achievements that the Local trains have done. Even if 200 people travel in a space meant for 100 people, the locals can still boast of an almost perfect punctuality with a rush time train availablity time of 4 minutes. Being able to touch most parts of Bombay, it is probably the only mode of transport that can boast of taking you from one end to another of the city within 90 minutes. It is known to transport atleast a million people- a sea of humanity to their destinations (the state of the transportees is however, debatable)CST station (previously known as Victoria Terminus) at BombayAnd thus life goes on by the locals.More to come !!