I am living in Mumbai for almost five years and it doesn't seem like an exaggeration to say that as much as I have rushed through its fervently packed, breakneck streets, its ever chaotic but still eerily desolate boulevards and its rugged assortment of highs and lows imparted as a gift to one's life, this city has rushed within my obedient self just as much.
Amidst the harsh graze of complications, some of which are completely unique to Mumbai, this city doesn't fail to hand over a few bites of its quirks, which one can chomp on amusedly while falling asleep in the bed, preparing oneself for the battle of tomorrow.
I experience one such quirk whenever I travel by the local trains of Mumbai. It's an unwritten norm in the ever-bursting local train compartments that the on-boarders from a new station will ask those who are one or more stations older and have managed to squeeze themselves in the solid as a rock seats, about their destination, the intention being as to reserve one's place with the one who is soonest to de-board. The ubiquitousness of this norm lies in the fact that the on-boarder doesn't even utter a word, simply points a finger at each of the motionlessly seated passenger and just as it is, a series of names of oncoming stations is spruced up infront of you.
But the quirk that always catches my interest is how people who are travelling to the ultimate destination of the train, always, raise their head from behind a book or a phone, with a slight lift of the eyebrows and a flat expression on their face, say, 'Last'! They never utter the name of the 'Last' station, even though it might take just as long to pronounce as the word 'Last' itself.
What is the underlying emotion of a word as simple as 'Last'? Why is there a lingering strange feeling it leaves after having been uttered? It is a way by which the passengers of the last station armour themselves against the hauntingly long hours still to go before they reach their home? Is it spiked with a slight hint of pride that silently shouts that 'I may be a little bit more of a warrior than you are'? It is a barometer to measure one's ability to withstand the pressure every single day presents? Does it help ease the struggle a little or to the very least, help one identify those who struggle just as much?
It may take me quite a lot more of local train rides to figure this out.
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