"Train"ed ways.....

Local train travelling, I could say is one of the most-used ways of travelling for people in Mumbai, especially officegoers and the college crowd. I have been using this mode of transport, albeit only for two months now and that too just a one station travel which is almost like a hop-skip-jump kinda thing. But what amazes me are the various nakhras that each person has while travelling by train...:p Honestly, I feel they have just come from the circus and the way they fly from one compartment to another, they almost resemble trapeze artistes. Ladies, of all ages, fight for the specific window seats and also catch places for people who are going to climb in the coming stations....I mean I was completely speechless when I saw this and remembered my school days in which I used to catch seats for my friends in the school bus...:p The intellectual conversations which the local train ladies have are also so amazing that within a span of say 5 stations they cover a diverse set of topics from children to sarees to maidservants to nailpoilshes to god knows what not!!! I sometimes wonder if they ever get bored talkin!!
But the most scary thing I feel is pregnant ladies standing on the footboard .....I get tense seeing them fearing that what if they fall because they almost stand on the edge!! Today was the heights because a pregnant lady was filing her nails standing at the door of the compartment all the way...I told her to stand aside but she paid no heed to me and just told me..."nahin...mujhe aadat hai....phikar mat karo"...I was almost like :o!!!
Guess I'm just getting used to madness called travelling by locals in Mumbai....must say my "train"ing period has been fruitful, to say the least..:p!!!