Mumbai on Track

3

"Pudheel station bhandup"......"Agla station bhandup"....."the next station is bhandup".....announced a pleasant female voice on the public address system....this went on for kanjurmarg, vikhroli, and all the stations on my early morning trudge to work from Mulund to Currey road. No, haven't been to Shangai yet. But have heard these announcements on the London Tube.....Even as Londoners continue to read their newspapers and magazines or stay glued to their cell phones...or to the music on their I-pods, these announcements combined with LED displays all-around the compartments subtly remind them of the next station. A change maybe for us Mumbaikars too...didn't have to crane my neck to the closest window to try and catch the place or the station that's just passed; or even have to ask the passenger next to the window, "bhaisaab, kaunsa station thha" ("Sir, what station did we pass just now..?....