Sandra takes the train from Bandra.
Romeos wait for another day.

Orange stripped train in Bandra!

IITians take the WR train to Andheri
and then BEST bus #337 to Powai.
Bandra is usually forgotten in the rush.

Bhavani Junction this is not.

Train and the truck.

Happy commuters thank their stars the trains are never late.

College girls heading to Andheri in 2nd class.

Ladies going frist class in western railway, notice the casual nonchalance grip on the door.

The Mahim creek looks beautiful on a rainy day, if only you can also smell the lush green water of the bay!

Much sweage has flowed to the bay of Bandra.

Bandra Station

Gaiety Galaxy theatres, Bandra.

There she goes on the bridge over troubled waters (actually smelly creek it is).

Up ahead in the distance, train crossing bridge to Kurla?

House by the line

Vegetable Lady in red in the CR 1st class.

Ten is a crowd on a rainy day.

And now a Central Railway train, see the lady vendors sitting at the door.

More people in red and blue.

Crowded train in the trees.

Train spotting

Ladies in waiting near Neera stall.


I see the early glow
I hear you say hello
I watch the shadows fall
I don't see you at all

- ONJ. ELO in Xanadu.

2nd class and 1st class hang on together on a trip

School boys go first class, all this and brains too.

Lady in blue, Paschim is Western.

Binaca smile at the door

Ode to Andheri Train

The Day before your Andheri Train Came
[Written by a Mantralaya clerk, inspired by Abha].

I must have left my house pretty late
because I always do
my train, I’m certain
left Andheri station just when it was due
I must have read the Times
going into Churchgate
and having gotten through the editorial
no doubt I must have sneezed
I must have cleared my desk
around a half past ten
with comics to be read
and heaps of forms waiting to be filed
I must have gone to lunch
at half past eleven or so
the usual idlis, the usual mosumbi juice,
and still on top of this
I’m pretty sure it must have rained
the day before you came

I must have sipped my seventh
cup of tea at half past two
and at the time I never
even noticed I was dazed
I must have kept on sipping
through the business of the day
without really knowing anything
I slid a part of me away
at three I must have left
there’s no exception to the tea
a matter of routine
I’ve done it ever since I finished school
the train back home again
undoubtedly I must have
read the evening midday then
oh yes, I’m sure my life was
well within its usual strain
the day before you sang

I must have opened my fridge door
at six o’clock or so
and stopped along the way
to buy some idli dosas food to go
I’m sure I had my dinner
watching some street fight
there’s not, I think, a single
episode of chaya geet that I didn’t see
I must have gone to bed
around a quarter after ten
I need a lot of sleep and so
I like to be in bed by then
I must have read a while
the latest one by Sant Tulsidas
or something in that style
it’s unholy, but I had no sense
of praying without aim
the day before you sang bhajans

And turning out the light
I must have chanted and
cuddled up for yet another night
and rattling on the roof
I must have heard the sound of rain
the day before you came
asking me to be on platform one
half past seven

It is Western railway.

Rear guard on 630C

Going home

That must be Kurla station, judging by the red platform.

Another one bites the dust

Train on the move

Matunga train

Birds eye view of passing trains

Ignoring the train is one way to miss it.

Dadar station is the fashion capital of the Suburbs.

Waiting waiting

Nature's call and night soil.

Shortcuts by the tracks.

And another station in sight.

It says "12 coach rake".

That looks like the fast train to Kalyan, see the grill in the front to protect the driver from rockers.

There comes another train to Dadar

Farms by the railway line in matunga

Crowd spilling out of Dadar platform waiting for a local train.

Smoke from a cattle shed on a rainy day in Mumbai


A million lights are dancing and there you are, a shooting star
An everlasting world and you're here with me, eternally

- ONJ/ELO in Xanadu

Crossing the rainy tracks at Dadar, no umbrellas?

Dadar station in monsoons.

What's that guy doing on top of a moving truck?

Trucks on the Eastern Express highway