This article has been published as submitted by the writer without any editing by Chillibreeze so you can critique it, in its original format. Please feel free to rate and comment on this article.
Scroll down to the bottom to rate this article.
By Latika Payak
Commuting through the different stations on harbour line, one may pensively wonder about the diversity of the terrain he or she passes. Initially the train helms through an upper level, laterally landing alongside the roads of Mumbai.
The names of the stations are equally interesting. They start with a divergent category of English names, reminding us of the short fling India had with the British, giving rise to Sandhurst Road, Dockyard Road, Reay Road and Cotton green. Subsequently they take up the archetypical Indian forms like Sewri, Wadala Road etc.
The railway line runs along patterned slums stippled with colourful linen hung out for drying. On the way passing stations, which look, dry and dusty.
Post Wadala Road, the slums shrivel up giving way to wild trees and shrubs. A pink flowered shrub can also be spotted if you are adequately blessed. Modest residential societies now tag along the tracks on the other side of the boundary wall.
The GTB( Guru Tej Bahadur) Nagar platform confronts miniature fields of leafy vegetables which slowly interweave into another set of slums. Now you have reached Chunabhatti which is an intimate neighbour of Sion from the Central Line. In a while now, the harbour line will rendezvous with the central line at Kurla junction.
A state-of-the-art local train passes by. Its shiny, newly painted look is very appealing. The proscenium of the new train has a very modern and techno look. It is primarily silver painted.
As the train paused at Kurla, many people surged in. Till now the compartment had worn an empty, deserted look, but now it looked full of life, with people scurrying here and there for getting a seat. An expressionless vendor also entered the compartment, pitching for his delectable bhel in a sling-song voice.
Harking back to the outdoor scenes, one can see a straight clean road with white buildings and red balconies. However the red colour is now intermingling with dirty brown polychromasia.
Rolling by Tilak Nagar station, one sees decent residential buildings conjugating with small counties of slums. A school playground comes into view, filled with children wearing a uniform of light blue coloured shirt and a dark blue coloured nigger, frolicking happily on this hot winter afternoon.
Again the ghettoes start emerging. Far away a crane siloes over an under-construction building. Govandi slips by. The shanty town persists along side. A black coloured building peeks from behind the slums.
The train goes over a nala filled with black sewage water with more slums lining it. The tracks of mumbai predominantly have the shanties as their veracious crony. You come across enticing orange-yellow flowers topping a shrub with long green leaves, minutes before the train enters Maankhurd station.
Maankhurd station has some open space tied to it where you can see many auto rickshaws lined up at the stand. This paves the way to smooth roads and flyovers, which is a rare site parallel to the tracks. But you can still see the smaller versions of fields growing along the tracks intermittently.
The train has gained momentum now and you start seeing salt water marshes and lakes. A sizable parking place for the trucks is seen. Without warning, you are in the midst of a jungle full of parched trees.
Before long, the magnificent Thane creek starts. For a few minutes, you can only see water stretching in front of you in all the directions. A flock of white birds, rest in the water for a while and then fly away. A parallel highway on the bridge also runs along. An uncouth, isolated boat bobs up and down the creek, which has now narrowed down. The scene you witnessed seconds ago was very different from the ones you saw previously on the journey from CST. At the moment, the slums, the small fields, the buildings seem very distant. But in reality, are within a stone’s throw away.
A deviating panorama starts to form as one sees land again. Capacious, glass walled ‘Raghuleela’ mall is the first morphology, which comes in site. A healthy white building is also sighted which is the Vashi station.
Hold your breath dear people, you are about to enter a land which has been carefully planned and developed accordingly. The platforms set up a good exemplification of the efforts taken by CIDCO for developing this part of mumbai. The vashi station is cooler than the stations passed previously as it is fully covered and has lots of overhead fans, which contribute to a cool welcome.
More on Chillibreeze
Read, rate and comment on more such articles by Indian writers
Take advantage of our confidential and professional article review services to get your writing rated by an expert critic
Check out our Writing Courses and Writing Assessments
Want to work on client projects? Read more about our screening process
Related posts:
Comments:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Your writing style paints vivid images and makes for interesting reading. An introduction about commuting in Mumbai would have helped ease the reader into the article.
Here are 5 things that we liked or would change/revise:
1. Title: The title is appropriate and conveys the central idea pretty well.
2. Format: The content flows well but some formatting will help streamline the article
3. Grammar & Usage: A basic edit and proofreading would greatly improve the article. You may want to consider our Detailed Expert Review or editing option.
4. Language: Your command over the subject is good and your turn of phrase and language is appealing
5. Target Audience: Your narrative style will help draw in your audience. This article could be improved drastically with a good introduction and a conclusion that wraps up the article well.
Very soporific and repetitive style, I was expecting it would sound different with every halt and start from station.
And a very more detailed description required of the join between land and island.
You missed chembur too.