A 10 minute visit to Ghatkopar

One word - Hustle 

That describes it all. But let me elaborate. 

I boarded my metro from DN Nagar all the way to Ghatkopar. On the way to Ghatkopar, fewer and fewer people got off and it got as cramped as a government school. If you wanted to itch your back, well, you couldn't. 

For an outsider to say things from the perspective of a tourist on this 10 minute trip, I don't have the right to judge or give pointers. 

So I am just going to describe how it felt. 

Eeeeeeeeeeiiin..We have arrived at Ghatkopar. 

And the race from the metro to the railway station down below had started as the metro gates opened. 

If you don't have any idea of where you are going, this is the worst place to be because you will get trampled with an apology. 

And me being me,I stepped away from the sprint of daily hustlers. It was breathtaking

To avoid going to a random train with the crowd, that could practically drag me with them, I went the other way. A staircase led me to the exit level.Where the shops were lined up like a Banjara market. 

As I descended from the comfort of metro into the wilderness of Ghatkopar railway station, it was an absolute mind numbing sensation. 

From one corner to another, wall to wall, inch to inch. It was as if every human in Ghatkopar was present on the pathway from metro to railway station. 

To my left some ATVMs, to my right a downward staircase marked east and west. As a made my way in this ant box I felt a surge of comfort. A new normal was infront of me. I wasn't in anyone's mind. 

Everyone had somewhere to be. And I have to say it, it was probably the most relaxed I have been in a while. 

But it was not over, I went outside the pathway and towards the road. The first thing on my mind, find a place to stand and observe, so naturally I went for a smoke. 

Remind you I had bought 4 books from the Banjara Market earlier, so in my mind I was quite uncomfortable. But the chaos was calming me in its own way. 

I looked around, walked a full circle in the nearest road and came back to the station. 

The language, the people, the crowd, everything was as natural as it can be. I mean, it's a market, there are people. The ordinary. But for me, the amazing ordinary. 

As I walked back from the road to the ant pathway, and into the metro station. 

I was already thinking about writing all this down. Because when my mother is lecturing me, these are the things she never mentions. 

So there I am trying to get a ticket to go back and then it hit me, I am uncomfortable. I am sweaty. I am hating that people are very close to touching me, some even pass by with a jerk and there is nothing I can do about it. 

Now on this day, I am sick as well. But that does not affect how I am behaving. 

I do not like to be touched. 

And the noises start to annoy me as well. 

I just want to be back in my house with the silence. 

So, I calm myself, take the ticket and rush to catch the metro that took me back to DN Nagar, and then to Oshiwara. 

I am actually writing this at the metro station - Oshiwara. 

With a dizy head, and unsteady mental thread. 

I am glad to have experienced what I experienced.