18/06/2017
Shared from the wall of Muslim Friend...
*Mumbai – A world in its own*
Date: 1st June 2017, it was 6:20 PM at Andheri station.
I boarded a 6:22 PM Virar slow train which originates from Andheri. Soon the train got crowded. The signal turned green and the journey began with a sound of a horn.
I was standing to the right of the corridor in between the doors facing the west side. To my extreme left I found a short guy with long beard, wearing a Kurta payjama and a small bag resting on his left shoulder.
This short man was struggling to catch the handles, because it was above his reach.
Two stations passed and everything was smooth until Goregaon.
Since it was 'peak hour', the train got over-crowded at Goregaon. He started to tussle because he wanted to get down at the next station (Malad).
This is the most horrible thing to do in a Virar train during peak hours. He asked people to give some space but his plead was put to deaf ears. Some of them started with the same old dialogue “Malad utarnaa hai toh Borivali train pakadne kaa thaa, abhi chalo Dahisar” (You should have boarded a Borivali train to get down at Malad, now get down at Dahisar). Dahisar is a station next to Borivali and 3 stations from Malad.
The short man was helpless and so were others.
Then someone sensed with his appearance that he was Muslim and may be fasting since it is a Month of Ramadan. He asked the guy if he was fasting. The short guy replied affirmative With 30 minutes remaining to break his fast.
Soon the news of his fasting spread and from nowhere people started to adjust and make way for him to get down at Malad.
It turned out that he did not have to go through the hardship of getting down 3 stations further and come back. Some of them were also concerned that he should not miss his "closure of fast" and reach home on time.
Finally the train entered Malad station and the short guy was able to get down with his hand bag. He was thankful to everyone who helped him.
This entire episode made one thing very clear, whatsoever is going on around the world, the *spirit of Mumbai will never die.*
We live, we respect, we let others live, even if we have differences. And when it comes to help, when someone is in need, we do our best to help them.
This may be a very small episode, but being a Muslim myself, it was inspirational for me and a proud moment for having such lovely people around us.
*I'M Proud TO be an Indian.*
