Mumbai Dairies:

March 29, 2011 – The idea of getting to work by train is quite exciting. One of my co-passengers recognized me today and said hello! She is a regular traveler.

Nothing much on the work front. Everyone at the client site is busy with year-end activities and they don’t really have time to entertain an auditor for this week at least. So that just means a lot of reading, planning and surfing the net for me.

Surprise of surprises- my firm has declared a half day off tomorrow on account of the eventful match between India and Pakistan!!!So we get to pack our bags and head home at 1.00 in the afternoon to sit in front of the TV with popcorn and cold drinks!!

Incidentally, the TV remote which had stopped working at my sister’s PG has also been replaced with a new one. So no more hitting the remote or running to the TV to increase/decrease the volume or change the channel.

My stay in Mumbai is proving to be quite exciting, touché wood!

Mumbai Dairies:

March 28th, 2011 – Today was my first day of train travel all by myself in Mumbai. Although my adorable little sister had left no stone unturned in getting me familiarized with train travel, I was nervous nonetheless.

The day before, both of us had run from pillar to post to figure out the most convenient way to get to Chembur (my place of work) from Andheri East (my sister’s place of stay).

After about half a day of running around followed by a very relaxed lunch at Kohinoor Continental where we got a chance to put together all the information that we had gathered, we managed to establish that there are only a handful of direct trains from Andheri to Chembur . However there are quite a few trains from Andheri to Wadala and from Wadala I can get on to one of the many trains going towards Chembur.

I was ready to live with the idea of changing trains at Wadala to get to Chembur.

So with this information in my mind and the train pass in my purse I reached very early at the station and managed to get into the designated train to Wadala. As planned, I was to get down at Wadala and take another train to Chembur.

However, lady luck was in my favor. When I got down from the train at Wadala and enquired about the connecting train to Chembur- I was directed towards the same train that I had gotten down from.

I was elated!! I had managed to board the direct train without realizing it. And that just meant that I need not change trains at all to get to my destination if I manage to stick to the timing.

Quite happy with the first day experience of Mumbai Local!