6. Identity of a Mumbaikar

I got into the 9.39 CST local from CBD, Belapur.  As was my habit, I opened the book I had with me to read during the travel time.  

The title of the book was 20 questions to know yourself.  Curious enough, I turned the pages to see what the 20 questions were.  

Meanwhile, fellow 2-3 lady passengers came in and sat beside me.  They were not in their usual chirping self.  Each one had a remorse look.  Some even had tears.  Few more came in and they started discussing who got the first phone call. Who called up whom and how they reached the hospital.  They then described the death scene of their train friend and colleague and how the in-laws of the deceased friend exhibited a callous attitude.  The loss was a personal loss only to the husband and the two daughters their friend had. 

Even though I could make out the whole incident from their discussion among themselves, I couldn't but place the person who exactly left for the heavenly abode.  After a long time, I gathered courage to ask one of the ladies, as to whom they were talking about?  She said,' you definitely know her.  Her name was Mangala - 8.26 am local in the year 1994, 8.57 am local in the year 1996 and later on she took the 9.00 am ladies special.  Don't you remember now?   

Oh, believe me, I could place her so immediately.  

In the evening while returning from work, I found a notice board in the 6.01 ladies special  local with a photo of our deceased co-traveller, a description in terms of the various trains she travelled regularly and an appeal to keep a 2 minute silence for her soul to rest in peace.  

As the train left CST station, the 2 minute mourning started and (one needs to really  see to believe  ) that the commuters in the next station i.e. Masjid, boarded the train and maintained pin-drop silence for the mourning to end.

I opened my book and the first question was - Who are you? What is the one thing that makes you special and unique? 

5. Learn on the run

Being a Mumbaikar since birth, one thing which runs in my blood is how to utilise time while travel.  When I was single, I used to do the first time reading of all the theory subjects during the one hour travel time in train between Borivali and Churchgate.

Later on, when I had children, following the same principle, I used to carry all kinds of cassettes like nursery rhymes, daily slokas, daily prayers, fairy tale stories, ramayana cassettes, sholay dialogue cassettes etc.  These cassettes were then played in our car stereo while we used to travel between Goregaon (in-laws)  and Navi Mumbai (our residence), which was nearly two hours journey - one way.  In due course, my children were aware and adept in story/ slokas recital and dialogue delivery in school competitions and plays. We, as parents, had never sat down to tutor them for anything in their school days. 

Lately, too, while I was pursuing studies of Law, I used the hour long travel time between Kharghar and CST to go through the books for the first reading and marking, so that later on I could make notes out of them.

Mumbai local ki Jai Ho!

4. TV, Children and Story Telling

Being the youngest in my family, I have had opportunities to interact with all my nieces and nephews.  I also had lot of opportunity to spend time taking care of them, when elders were busy with other jobs.  I used to then, cook up stories while feeding them with their food or making them sleep.   Slowly, I myself developed an interest in mimicking and changing voices and with the help of eyes and hands to bring a story alive and capture the attention of the child.  No matter how stupid story I said, whether it had any moral or not, ending or not, every child with whom I spoke, reciprocated either by laughter, tears or making his own ending of my incomplete stories.  

It is a divine pleasure to be in the company of children and speak to them about their imaginations and fantasies.

The same story-telling session, I tried with my neighbours children.  But alas! I couldnt make them sit still even for 5 minutes.  Listening and imagining is neither taught nor given importance as a tool to bring up children. Watching TV adds to curtailing the imagination of the child because what is shown on TV is what enters the child's mind.  There is no scope or time for the child to think on its own. As a result, they are not given enough food for thought for their brilliant brains to work on any matter.  They wake up in the morning and sit in front of TV watching their favourite cartoons, while their parents get their teeth brushed, hair combed, uniforms worn, breakfasts eaten, shoes tied and then the parents carry the school bags, lift the children and drop them to their schools in their flashy cars.  All this, because, the parents do not want any ruckus/ arguments and delay in the morning schedule.  They, themselves have to leave for work and they would have come home late the previous night from a party or movie or office. 

The children have become mechanised instruments to be used only as proof of existence of a family.  

3. TV and children

Recently our  neighbours, a young 30+ couple with 2 children, boy aged 8 and girl aged 3 years, purchased a huge  master size LED TV and fixed into a 10 X 10 size hall of their house.  In doing so, they had to move out all the toys and dolls, playing blocks and puzzles, which were kept in a place within reach of the children. Soon the focus of each and every elder of their family got engrossed with the specifications of the TV.  They even had guests invited, who came in all the way to appreciate the TV.  

I, as a dutiful neighbour, always kept my doors open for the kids to roam about freely in our corridor.  Soon the children, didn't wish to back to their home at all.  On one such visit of a relative, the young girl comes and tells me, her aunt has come to see their TV.  The 8 year boy, tells, his dad was so proud about their TV and so he was also proud.  He went on to tell that he would also buy a big TV for his own house when he grew big. 

I was shocked to hear what the children said.  Perhaps, I would have been the only neighbour who felt sympathetic towards the parents for losing on their quality time to be spent with their sweet, intelligent children and instead spent their time watching the idiot box and showing off to their relatives and friends.