'पीछे मुड - peeche mud'. These are the two words that you have encountered in your school days during march past, you would have heard it in movies, theater, NCC, Scout etc. Can you imagine hearing these words in train and suddenly the whole battalions of passengers turn around in no time and no space? Yes! I mean train, local trains in
Every time you travel in a train it gives you a new experience that lasts forever with you .The experience might be a mockery, hilarious, squabble etc. There are millions of passengers commuting in these trains everyday and these passengers board and alight these trains in a span of 10-20 seconds. The rush in the platform is uniform through out the day and sometimes its like spectators in the cricket stadium. Boarding and alighting these trains with the spectators itself needs a skill, apart from this, Inside the train there is hardly any space for any part of your body to move, except for your head and hands which will be holding on to handle bars . Part of your body can oscillate or move along with other passengers, if you need to get down the train at a particular station, you need to anticipate which side the platform would arrive. When I had arrived in Mumbai, I was given all the possible tips, tricks and practical experienced shared so that I learn how to travel in trains fast. Despite all these, there are some good, bad and ugly experiences that happen.
I happen to board a non stop train from Dadar to Thane, and the platform was expected towards my left. As usual I started moving from my place towards the exit prior to the destined station. Ofcourse ! In such a crowd you are expected to start early or else you will get down the next station of what you intended to! As the station approached, a small number of long queues were formed right from the exit. The station was nearing; suddenly I hear some dozens of voices in chorus ‘Peeche Mud’. And, my mind started wandering and remembering my school days. I remembered my PT master, hitting with the stick if badly performed during marchpast. In school, There was one PT master who used to give instructions ‘Soudhan’, ‘Vishram’, ‘Peeche Mud’, ‘Daaye Mud’, ‘Baaye Mud’. Here there were dozens, and the instruction was followed sincerely by all the passengers in no time and also where there is no space for your body to move . The whole battalions of passengers towards the exit were facing me and I felt that I was like a commanding officer who had ordered them ‘peeche mud’. For a few seconds, I did not realize what was happening, I took a couple of steps towards the exit, got some breathe and asked the fellow passengers ‘Bhaisaab, Platform kis taraf hai’ (Which side the platform will arrive), one of them said the platform is on the other side of exit. I felt for sometime that I was mocked by the Mumbai trains, a feeling of ignorance, dumbness and lack of illiteracy of train mannerism had engulfed my mind. I realized that the train had changed the track and would be stopping at platform 5 instead of platform 4. I just smiled and got down from the train!
Peeche Mud!!!Its time for you to get back to your work !
