Mumbai Meri Jaan   Situated on the west coast of India, the island cum linear city of Bombay was rechristened Mumbai in 1995. It is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the financial capital of the country. The city was initially built on seven islands that were later connected to form the island city. Its significant expansion beyond the original island boundaries, stretching both north and south along the coastline, has led to its linear growth both towards the north and south.   I have fond memories of travelling to Mumbai to spend school vacations with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. The journey and the vacations were both exciting, and we hated to return. Those were the days when summer vacations were spent at Grandma and Grandpa’s home. So it was Mom, Brother, and me rocking and rolling as the Gitanjali sped down the tracks to Mumbai. Dad usually never accompanied us because of work. Mom had been born and bred in Mumbai and ...

The quintessential Mumbai local is not for the faint-hearted but is the cheapest and fastest means of transport in the linear city. The Mumbai suburban railway comprises a network of trains referred to as local trains. The local trains serve almost 7.5 million commuters daily. The network is an extension of the railway system built by the British in India and is the oldest in Asia. Overcrowded and claustrophobic the Mumbai commuter stalks life and limb when he boards a coach of the Mumbai local. Yet he must take a particular train to work every single working day. He scrambles jostles, cusses and fusses as he strives to find a seat. In spite of trains running at intervals of 3 minutes the crush and rush at peak hours is simply unimaginable and bust be seen and experienced!(put it on your bucket list, if you as yet  have not  experienced the bitter-sweet ride on a local).Very often your day is doomed if you miss your ‘regular’- A fast or slow to  your destinat...