#HelloMumbai and #EdinTrio Tales

I Take This Train Too by Cyrus Daruwala
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was October 2016 when the #EdinTrio embarked on a journey to Mumbai because of a business need to move our operations and cross-train new processes — you know, the usual Corporate-ops-saving-mechanisms. It was also at this year when the most controversial announcement by PM Modi declared that all of the 500 and 1000 Rupees that we hold are deemed worthless, and we only have three banking days to change them in the newly-released 2,000 Rupees so that we can use them in the city. All of my backpacking plans got scratched that day. Taj Mahal, Jaipur... Heck, even Ladakh hike went down the drain. I was stuck in the city, getting overtimes, getting more stressed, unable to get the holiday we really wished to take. The only consolation was us being stuck in JW Marriott hotel in Juhu, where we pray our Corporate cards to all of India's gods and deities, making sure that we were able to settle all of the expenses every 10days.

Since Juhu is known for its long strip of beach with pistons flattening the sand for cricket games and dog strolls, it is also a good walking ground going to Granth Bookstore — a Mumbaikar version of Fully-Booked mothership here in BGC, Taguig. After 30minutes of introspection, you exit the Juhu Gate1 and you shall see the cool aesthetics of the bookshop. This is were I was able to buy this first edition book, hard-bound, with sleeve, for only 575 Rupees.

The book is about the people inside the train — one of their massive transports in the whole Maharashtra state. A train is a microcosm of society, like our Jeepneys, UV Express and buses, and somehow the book identified the demographic of Mumbaikar riders, or in my case, riders from Bandra Station to Churchgate (during my stay). One funny thing when we travelled to town (Colaba, South Bombay for context) is that we didn't know that there is a special section in a compartment for first-class. And even though it has the same poor ventilation, it costed us 10 times the fare. The 10 rupees went to 100, all because I wanted a seat far from the congested section. Good thing that I wasn't carrying a 2000 note, or the train conductor might gave me the deadly stare and take the money away, not knowing when will I receive the change... Or if will I ever receive the change.

The author apologizes for the lesser representation of women in his illustrations. But somehow, that reflects really what was happening in Mumbai at the time of my visit: women have the lesser representation compared to the men. In the office alone, the team where I taught the process has only two women tallying the 13 full-time employee roster. And these two wonderful women are both married. But heck, I am the only one in that floor wearing a Mac Ruby Woo lipstick and code switches to American english.

In the women section of the train I also encountered a fish vendor, and a snack vendor, and they used to sit near the edge of the train while trying to sell their goods. Some of my colleagues who aren't used to the sight felt awkward and icky. I wasn't — I used to ride the Phil Natl Railways home-along-da-riles version in my college years. So somehow, I resonated with the author's experiences in riding the mass public transport.

I only hope that the author included the sketch of Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus as the centerfold. That way, his book will capture the foreigner's allure. I mean, who won't be mesmerized with the Unesco Heritage site? I even crossed the highway to grab an instagram shot of it. What a grandiose piece of architecture, and I immortalized it by writing a short story using my nome-de-plume.

Overall, the book somehow documented my little experience of Bombay and its massive rail. Coupled it with funny illustrations and quirky commentaries and nuances, this is a goodread to cap off this year.

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