10.30 AM Mumbai CST to Dadar Local

10.30 AM Mumbai CST to Dadar Local

                   The Mumbai CST to Dadar station slow train was running late by around 20 minutes. Pallavi entered the train with her bag full of imitation jewelry, fancy rubber bands, clutches, bob pins and clips. She held out her stuff to lady passengers in the train. Several of the lady passengers scanned through the jewelry and clips that Pallavi was out to sell.

          Pallavi was tall, slim with brownish black hair that extended to her waist, beautiful brown eyes, and long neck and had long elegant fingers. Pallavi belonged to a group of underprivileged girls and stayed in Dharavi in Mumbai. She made a living by selling fancy imitation jewelry to women who travelled in local trains. Life was extremely challenging for Pallavi as this was her only means of livelihood for several years now.

                   The Mumbai CST to Dadar Slow Train was more crowded than usual. A heavy surge of men and women stormed into the train through both the gates. The train had a bad stench since the passengers in the train were perspiring heavily. Ramsukhiya, an old blind man entered into the train along with his son. He had a harmonium attached to the belt on his left shoulder. He was singing the old Hindi movie song ‘Ae Maalik Tere Bande Hum’. Ramsukhiya’s son extended his hands to collect alms offered to them by empathetic fellow passengers. A few elderly men and women were completely engrossed in scanning through the local newspaper. A few youngsters in the compartment were glued to their cell phones probably checking their Whatsapp and Facebook accounts.

                             Pallavi was barely eighteen years old. Life had been extremely challenging for Pallavi. However that did not deter her from being bubbly and effervescent. Her kohl lined eyes sparkled and shone celebrating the most insignificant of moments. She had always wanted to enroll in a school and lead a dignified existence. Howevevr, owing to the paucity of funds she was forced to sell imitation jewelry to sustain existence. Living in Dharavi was like residing in an unending stretch of narrow, dirty lanes, open sewers and cramped huts.  

                             After a hard day’s work, Pallavi would return back to her hut and connect with her friend Chhaya. Chhaya worked in a housing society in Mumbai and collected garbage from people’s homes. Pallavi and Chaya grew up together in the same vicinity and had a lot in common to share with each other. Many a times Pallavi and Chhaya would prepare dinner together and share their food. They would engage in long sessions wherein they would chat to their heart’s content. They would merrily talk about any topic under the sun, laugh, and giggle and have loads of fun.

          The October heat made things difficult for slum dwellers in Dharavi. The air had a rotten dirty quality about it. Pallavi woke up at the break of dawn. After completing her daily chores, she rushed to the wholesale dealer to pick up her wares.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), is a historic railway station located in the heart of Mumbai. It is one of the most historical landmarks within Mumbai. It has been a core witness to the city flourishing, businesses blooming, and the Indian film industry growing. Once at the CST station, Pallavi roamed from one compartment of the 10.30 AM Local to Dadar train to the other to sell her wares. In spite of the difficulties she endured Pallavi hummed peppy numbers  and gyrated her body to Bollywood tunes that she overheard on the pocket radio carried by the fellow passengers in the train.

          Pallavi continued with her work and settled into the humdrum of Life. On one such day Pallavi got up early, dressed up in a white salwar kameez and wore earrings matching to her garment. She folded her long hair into a neat bun. She boarded the compartment in the train and proceeded for her work. Suddenly out of nowhere a few uncouth men who were kind of vulgar in their mannerisms started to tease Pallavi. One among them was blowing a whistle while the other was imitating Pallavi. Pallavi was extremely uncomfortable in their presence and was trying to find a way to avoid them. One elderly man saw this. A few women too were drawn towards Pallavi. Due to the resulting commotion, a young man who was tall, athletic, muscular with broad shoulders, dense black hair, black eyes reached the scene. He caught hold of the shirt collar of one among the rowdy men and warned him to stay away from Pallavi. The man with the athletic built rebuked the men stating that he would hand them over to the police if they harassed Pallavi any further. The man with the athletic built gave some solid blows to each of the men who was harassing Pallavi. After a combat that lasted for a few minutes, an elderly man decided to intervene.  The leader among them signalled the others to leave realizing that they could not fight any longer and that they were overpowered,. Pallavi who was nervously watching the entire episode uttered a sigh of relief and took a long deep breath when the men left.

The young man with the athletic built introduced himself as ‘Aditya’. Aditya was the owner of a small time business that dealt in the export of pure metals. Aditya reassured Pallavi that there was nothing to worry. He also handed his residential address to Pallavi stating that she could reach out to him in case of any help that she may need in the future. Pallavi bent over to touch Aditya’s feet. Aditya stopped her and remarked that he was merely performing his duty. The elderly man in the train thanked Aditya for his presence of mind and fearlessness.  

Pallavi left for her home earlier than usual. She reached her home and rushed to meet Chhaya.

Chhaya asked Pallavi “Is everything okay?”

Pallavi narrated to Chhaya the incident in the train compartment that day.

Chhaya asked Pallavi “Will you meet Aditya?”

Pallavi replied “I wish to.”

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Cold December set it. The sky was overcast with clouds and chilly winds were blowing. Winters are not very conspicuous in Mumbai. However, even people in Mumbai were feeling cold this Winter. Pallavi often found herself ruminating about her meeting with Aditya. She longed to meet him.

          The CST station in Mumbai often witnessed travelers travelling to catch long distance trains. On one such day, Pallavi witnessed a lady in bridal attire – a woman wearing a red colored Patiala kurta and kameez, with more than 2 dozen red and white bangles in both her hands popularly known as the ‘chuda’ in the local language. The bridegroom wore a white sherwani and a red jacket with matching jootis to complete the look. The bride had red paste popularly known as the alta on both her feet and her hands were covered with intricately done mehendi on both her hands right upto the wrist. The other members in the troop seemed to be rejoicing in the festivities. Pallavi keenly observed the bride and bridegroom and was lost deep in thoughts. Would Pallavi be a bride sometime in the future? Who would be Pallavi’s bridegroom if she ever happened to marry? Would it be Aditya? Oh how she wished that it would be Aditya.

                   As Pallavi was lost in such thoughts, Ramsukhiya entered the train compartment. He was singing the song ‘Dil to Pagal Hai. Dil Deewana Hai’. The song aptly described Pallavi’s feelings at that moment. Pallavi had a wild dream that night. Aditya has bent down on his knees and was offering a rose to Pallavi.  In her dream Pallavi saw Pallavi and Aditya exchanging garlands in a grand ceremony. Pallavi was overwhelmed and woke up suddenly only to realize that it was a dream. She could not contain the love she was feeling for Aditya and decided to meet Chhaya.

Pallavi met Chhaya and described her dream. Chhaya says “Dreams are meant to be dreams. It is far from reality.”

Pallavi was slightly disappointed with what Chhaya said.

          Pallavi had to meet her wholesaler that day to collect some latest designs of imitation jewelry. Pallavi somewhat reluctantly meets her wholesale dealer to collect innovative designs in imitation jewelry. She boarded the 10.30 AM local Train to Dadar. The train has some new hawkers. One among them is Sita the fresh flower vendor. Sita carries Jasminum samba (mogra) and Jasminum polyanthus (chameli) garlands which are immediately picked up by women travelers. Another new entrant among the hawkers on the 10.30 AM local train to Dadar is a bag vendor. Kanta, the bag vendor, carries bags of various types which include bags which look similar to genuine leather bags. They are available at one fourth of the cost of leather bags.  Pallavi sensed the increase in competition. She wants to break free from the local train. She would like to escape with Aditya in a far away island where they are all alone.

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That evening Pallavi met Chhaya and discussed her feelings with her. They both had a quiet dinner at Pallavi’s place. Pallavi had kept Aditya’s contact details at the bottom of her trunk in her room. The next morning Pallavi got up early. Pallavi wore her white salwar kameez, diamond studded earrings and her footwear.  She had decided to meet Aditya that afternoon. She removed Aditya’s contact details that were buried deep in her trunk. Aditya stayed in Andheri(West). Pallavi would have to change two buses to reach  Aditya’s home.

Pallavi reassured herself thinking that she was taking the right step by having decided to meet Aditya. While in the BST Bus, Pallavi was looking forward to her meeting with Aditya that afternoon. Though she was not sure about what the outcome of today’s meeting would be, she went ahead with her plan. 

  The double decker BST bus had a lot of passengers that day. Pallavi was standing for half of her journey. After standing for some time, Pallavi got a seat in the bus. After about forty minutes, the Bus halted at the depot. Pallavi waited at the Bus depot for some time. After standing at the bus depot for some time, Pallavi boarded the second Bus. After about an hour, Pallavi reached in front of Aditya’s home.

                   It took Pallavi some courage to step inside the security gates of Aditya’s bungalow located in the Lokhandwala Complex of Andheri West. There was a German shepherd tied to a pillar at Aditya’s home.  A boy of around 3-4 years of age was playing with a young girl of around 6-7 years of age. Who could these children be? With a lot of trepidation Pallavi knocked at Aditya’s home door. A young lady with short hair, smart looks opened the door. Pallavi handed Aditya’s contact details to her. Pallavi narrated the incident that occurred in the train the other day several months ago. Pallavi added that she was here to meet Aditya to check if he could help her find some meaningful work.

The young lady introduced herself as Aditya’s wife.

Pallavi was crestfallen on learning that Aditya already had a family that he called his own. He had a beautiful wife and two lovely children. Pallavi was shocked to learn that all her dreams with Aditya could never be realized. Pallavi spoke to Aditya for some time. She expressed her sincere gratitude for all that he had done for her that day in the train. She asked Aditya if he could help her find some meaningful work. Aditya said that he required an office girl at his office. Pallavi said that she will be happy to render her services. Pallavi requested some time to confirm her decision to join Aditya’s office. After meeting Aditya and his family, Pallavi set on her way home.

                 Pallavi met Chhaya that day. Chhaya asked Pallavi “How was the meeting?”

                   Pallavi replied “Aditya can never be mine.’ She started crying uncontrollably after sharing this with Chhaya.

 The next day Pallavi headed towards the Mumbai CST to Dadar Local. Everything seemed similar….. The same Ramsukhiya, the same Kanta, the same Sita.

Only Pallavi’s perspective in Life had changed.

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