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!