Getting Around By Train

Trains are essential to getting around in Mumbai, and yesterday was our first ride together. To start, you need a first class ticket to avoid the really packed cars. It was easy to figure out where to buy the tickets because there were no fewer than 100 people in line. I learned earlier in the day to ride first class to avoid the crowds. I also learned that to purchase a first-class ticket, you go to the head of the line and break in. That's not something we're comfortable with, but ultimately we saw that others were doing that, so we did as well. (Our landlord told us this morning that the signs at the station state that this is the proper procedure.)

We were heading to Shabbat services near the Church Gate station, an hour or so from where we live. The good news is that we were heading against traffic, so that helped to cut down on the crowds. While there are designated men's and women's cars, women can ride in the men's car. (It's generally a bad idea for a woman to be on the men's car when it's crowded...) The car was pretty empty, so we decided to ride together in the men's car, and that worked out fine going downtown. Coming back was a different story! When we got on the train, it was pretty empty. At the next stop though, hundreds (no exaggeration) of men got on. Luckily, we had seats. It was just getting off that was tough. You really need to get yourself in position early or you can easily be caught up in the crush of the crowd. (Think of DC's metro at its most crowded times and then multiply that by at least 10, and you get the idea!)

The Shabbat service itself was an experience much more foreign to us than we thought it would be. First, it was Orthodox. I sat upstairs and watched while Frank joined the 14 other men. If it hadn't been Shabbat, I would have loved to capture it all on camera. There was Frank doing his best to fit in, dancing, clapping, and every now and then looking up at me and rolling his eyes. It was intense.

After services we went to the Chabad House, another first for us, and this also was intense. The rabbi made a full evening of it...We finally left at 10:30. While it was great to see the depth of knowledge and interest, it had been a long day.

More on that later.