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Published: October 10th 2008
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First move we made in Goa was a complete disaster. We were almost forced to pay all we had in our money belt as a fine because we got off at the wrong train station. Then we were soaked up by the merciless torrential rain in Goa. We did not run out of our misfortune here. We went to a local restaurant, may be the only restaurant near the sights, waiting to rip off anyone who walked in soaking wet. I lost the enthusiasm of travelling further in Goa which was a good reason for us to take a train to Mumbai.
Mumbai is the second most populous city in the world and the most populous in India. When you hear the word Mumbai, the Bollywood naturally comes to your mind. This is also more cosmopolitan and any other cities in India. People are from all over India coming to find the instant wealth here.
Mumbai is also famous for, Bollywood icon Amithab Bachchan, SRK, Sachin Tendulkar’s pricey restaurant chain, local Ghundas, Hijras, and various other types of people. Many people refer Mumbai as the city that never sleeps.
It was a late train we got from Goa.
If the train runs according to accurate arrival time, we will be in Mumbai around 10am. As soon as we entered the suburb of Mumbai, we heard the strange noise clicking and clapping sounds from all over the compartment. It did not make anyone, curious or nervous but it did certainly make us so curious to discover this unusual sound.
A group of Hijras were heading towards our carriage. Who are these Hijras?
In the culture of the Indian subcontinent, a Hijra is usually considered a member of "the third sex" — neither man nor woman. Most are physically male or inter-sex, but some are female. Hijras usually refer to themselves linguistically as female, and usually dress as women. Although they are usually referred to in English as “eunuchs”, relatively few have any genital modifications.
A tall almost looking like a man, Hijra sat next to me and began to ask money. I did not response to her query then she began to touch my arms so softly. I felt so uneasy but I could not react harshly. I pretended as if I have no idea about what she is asking about. Then another Hijra came to
me said that they want money from us. They were aggressive the way they approached us. We were frightened a bit, but tried to remain calm. I was looking at the other people who were in the same compartment without taking a note of these Hijras. I think that they are used to this type of such encounters on the train.
They whole bunch of Hijras left me alone while cursing to death!
The train stopped again a stop before the main train station. The whole group of Hijras runs to the next train which was about to leave the station. I remain till the end of the journey.
Then there was a Ghundha, a local hero was standing by the entrance and staring at Nanu without even making a single move. With big muscular arms which were covered with tattoos. There were a couple of heavy chains were hanging over his little pot belly. His left ear was decorated with a stone stud earing. I felt so uncomfortable the way he stared at us. He definitely gave me a scary look which he might have thought that I would run away.
Both Nanu and I
remained on the same seat, just not to let him have a place next to us. I felt that there was something wrong with this scary person. It is quite hard to know how to face someone who is staring at another person for a long time. He tried to have a chat with us by asking initial questions about our origin and who we are and where we are heading. We answered very careful because at that time, we have not thought a place to stay in Mumbai. Mumbai is a massive place where the largest Indian population settled.
We showed him that we were not interested in talking or listening to him. I think that he wanted to find how vulnerable we were. We both looked outside the window which did not help us to get rid of the fear. There were a lot of illegal settlements along the rail track which were in worst in condition. The little children half naked were running parallel to the slow moving train and screaming loudly. Some were just looking sad. It was quite sad to even observe for us. I am getting more and more nervous as train approach
one of the most populous train station in India.
As soon as we arrived at the main Chatrapati Sivaji Terminal, the rain drops began to get heavier and heavier. We jumped out of the train with other passengers and our backpacks. The Ghunda was still following us and I realised that my heart beat was beating fast, it was beyond my control to hold back to normal speed. I held my Nanu’s hand and walked to the main exit point where a couple of armed police men are lazily wandering around. I dropped my bags almost at their feet and began to ask some useless questions. It was my trick to threaten the following Ghunda who was still looking at us from a distance. Then I pointed out our train which was at our sight as if I was about to direct the police men to where Ghunda was standing. He disappeared through the on coming crowd. We both had enough of being here after all.
A couple of people came to offer us, fantastic clean room for a bargain price. I did not think that none of their trick worked with Nanu. She was already fed up
and I was waiting her to tell me something.
It was our bad luck too that we run out of money. I had barely 200 rupees with me. The cash machine outside the train station does not accept my debit card. I was furious when I realised that my bank account was locked as a measure to protect to from theft. I had no choice but to leave Nanu at the train station and walk hours and hours to find a place where I can make a call back to my bank. The first attempt cost me almost hundred rupees and the second attempt was took whole money I had.
I was returning back to the station with a great displeasure when a boy ran over me. I almost lost my strength to hold back him. He was running away from a group of young boys who were unhappy with me because I did not hold of the boy. The boy disappeared among the crowd and I walked back to the train station.
We had to go back to the main street to get exchanged the final resources of the wealth, which we have been holding since
we began our journey. Nanu managed to change some of her travellers’ cheques.
I went back to call the bank abroad, leaving Nanu at the train station. I was successful this time after spending three hundreds rupees over a long help-up phone call. I walked back happily as fast as I can. In the mean time, Nanu had decided to leave Mumbai. Her decision did not surprise me at all. I was happy to follow her.
We are going to catch the train to Ahmedabad, the capital city of Gujarat state. We already had two tickets to Ahmedabad but not for today. We planned to stay in Mumbai for two days but now we have to face the grumpy ticket manager and the ticket examiner to get a special pass to leave today itself.
After having entered into so many offices, we were allowed to leave Mumbai in the late afternoon with the same ticket. We still have got more than a 4 fours left, so we left our luggage in the train station and walked along the busy road. We stopped to have a late lunch at an Italian restaurant, which serve some delicious dishes.
We did not want to walk further than going to a book shop on the pavement.
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