Raaga on Rails

Well people, if you think that I'm being partial to mumbai with my posts on the blog, you may be probably justified in thinking so. But there always will be so much to write about it that I think it's probably ok.

Anyway, After a long interval i got an opportunity to ride the suburban local during 'peak' hours. I was unusually surprised that I managed to get into the train quite easily in the first place, rather than having to squeeze my way through. And it was after i had settled in and managed to get the 'standing' spot between the pair of seats did I realise that I was surrounded by this group of men who had neatly managed to huddle in and occupy two complete rows of seats for themselves. And just as the train was about to leave, this guy drew out a neatly folded banner out of his sack and then hung it out on the overhead rack; it read 'XYZ bhajan mandal'.He then neatly passed out some more stuff out to his 'group' whose role I would soon come to know. And as the train chugged out of the station, there were loud chants singing praises about almost every popular Hindu gods and goddesses. And then started the round of bhajans; one again for each god and goddess, starting of course with the elephant headed lord ,as is always the custom.

Welcome to our own suburban Music clubs or whatever you may choose to call it. Although there've been various protests against these mandals from time to time, I don't think anybody will actually ever go up to one of these groups and stop them. And as the train rolled on between stations, the pace and fervor with which the group sang kept on rising.And then there was the neat sounding Percussion to go with the bhajans. And somehow, the sound of the train wheels blended in perfectly to create a surprising rhythm.

Although a bigger percentage of the commuters think that these groups are a real nuisance, There are actually some who enjoy these sessions. Of course, would you like to be disturbed if you're going through your serious reads of The Economic times, or If you're a student trying to catch up on some last minute revisions before that all important exam or whether you are just a regular commute who likes to use this transit period to collect your thoughts for the day ahead? Purists will always vote against these mandals creating that ruckus each day.

But frankly today, as I was no longer doing any of the above as I travelled, In some way I seemed to enjoy the singing. The group even threw in the non- religious kind of bhajans to go along with the regular ones. Some even sung by the great mahatma himself, speaking of brotherhood and respect for all religions ( although I would seriously like to know the views of these groups on the subject of tolerance towards other religions).

And as the Journey reached it's end and the group stopped singing,rounds of 'prasad' were passed around (I know Mom always told you to never accept stuff to eat from strangers). And as these Babus of the bhuleshwar markets, the brokers of Dalal street and the Workers of the mubai mills got off the train, it was business as usual for them for the day ahead. But,I'm sure that they knew that the 8:51 fast will be back tomorrow unfailingly. And so will they!