Generally standing

The concept of space and time is best understood by those who commute on Mumbai’s local trains. Every minute matters and so does every inch. Getting a window seat—or for that matter, an emptier compartment—is nothing less than a luxury. And this is the case with all the three lines of railway networks in our city. One more thing that’s common to Harbour, Central and Western is the way the so-called luggage compartment is utilised by daily passengers. During the morning rush hour, people avoid them because of hasty vendors and the dabbawallahs who wouldn’t let their luggage-less counterparts sneak in. At other times of the day, luggage compartment is a delight to be in—illegally speaking though—given the space it has. No wonder it’s treated as a general compartment during the rest of the day! After all, there no ‘barriers’ per se in these chotu compartments.