What Mumbai Locals taught me about work ethics
Life in a Mumbai local is pretty much like life in Mumbai. Navigating in and out of it, day in and day out is like witnessing a charming circus of sorts that is good to see (as hilarious viral videos), but hard to digest (stripped off all its romantic notions), and harder still to experience (that too as an everyday ritual). A place where everyone is welcomed with open hearts, but it is no place for the weak hearts.
With all its issues, idiosyncrasies and innate inadequacies — the Mumbai Local is the rockstar of a public infrastructure that makes commuting across the length and breadth of Mumbai a reality for people across cultures, clusters and cadres. A lifeline, this suburban rail network is the oldest and biggest in the country. A bridge that plays cupid to the long-distance relationship between Mumbaikars and their dreams.
A drill it is, yes. But it is also the city’s 4 am friend (Mumbai Locals, literally, set out at 4:15 am every damn day!).
Mostly messy (imagine the peak hours) and seldom breezy (imagine those midnight monsoon rides) — a day in the life of a Mumbai Local comes with the most amazing life lessons. The longer the route, the longer is the list of life lessons up for grabs.
Having being born, bred and bored in Baroda for most part of my life, I set foot in Mumbai 3 years ago and that’s when I became vocal for (mumbai) local. Having straddled homes in locations as distant and diverse as Mira Road, Borivali & Andheri – my repertoire of experiencing the good, the bad and the ugly of Mumbai Local is pretty neat.
So here goes my gratitude list.
Of 5 ways in which the city’s lifeline enriched my life at work. There’ve been incredible life lessons as well, but am gonna restrict this blog to work-life lessons because that’s how much I am amazed by the way it works.
THERE’S METHOD BEHIND EVERY MADNESS
There are no written rules here. That doesn’t mean there are no rules here.
Booking the seat in advance by trading with the occupant on her last stop, clarifying whether the seat you’ve booked is half-ass seat or full-ass seat, queuing up in the right direction at the right time, being seated with legs wide open so that the girl standing nearby can intertwine her legs with yours and thereby save space for others, jostling your way inside (yes that’s very much an acceptable way to get in), following the agar-Churchgate-jaane-kaa-hai-toh-ekdum-andar-chali-jaa rule, or making sure ki agar-laptop-bag-hai-toh-agey-rakho-naah-warna-jagah-kaise-banegi AND answering the million dollar last-stop-hai-toh-first-kyu-khadi-hai question — there’s a full-blown process that goes behind self-navigating the crowded locals. From how many people can stand at the door to how many people can stand in between two seats – it’s all sorted out in an unseen book of unsaid rules.
And voila, (almost) everyone abides.
Much like the world of advertising. As chaotic and meandering our jobs may seem, a hell lot of discipline, direction, and guardianship goes into arriving at the final output. It’s taut leadership and solid teamwork that actually drives this madness machine. So much so that even freelancers are not free from following the discipline (ask me ;).
Believe it or not – an agency life is more about breaking a sweat than taking a sutta break!
PUSH YOURSELF TO CREATE YOUR OWN SPACE
A wise aunty once told me “jagah banaoge, tabhi toh jagah banegi” and was it an eye opener? You’ve got to push yourself to create your own space be it any crowded place. A lot of times, pushing yourself may come at the cost of pushing others. But aggression with caution did no one no harm. Isn’t applying force in the right manner and in the right direction, the law of motion anyways?
Never stay still, let your resolve linger a little longer, and push yourself out of our comfort zone. For that’s where all the magic happens.
Be your own critique. Write. Unwrite. Rewrite. Let your imagination run an extra mile, come rain or shine!
TIME IS EVERYTHING
A Mumbai Local train runs every two minutes, yeah. But for those who live in Dahisar and have two trains to change to reach their destination – you really don’t wanna mess up on your timeline. Agar 7.10 am ki fast local nahi mili, to phir platform badal na padega to catch the next train. Aur dusri train bhi miss ho jayegi and udhar bhi platform badalna padega. Itna time khoti nai kar sakte naa. Not to forget the slow local alternative if you miss your fast local! Sitting through a slow mumbai local is like sipping on a cup of masala chai – it is like bearing unpalatable slow poison. You just can’t do that to yourself. Time is a ticking bomb here, especially for commuters who need to map time as much as or higher up than what one’d map on the Baroda-Ahmedabad highway.
Time is everything, everywhere. An essential skill in life and at work. I mean. If you know me enough, I can see you rolling your eyes at (oh-so-ironical) me.
Trust me, l shall get there at some point in time!
Bombay mein log itte busy hai, ki logo ko gussa hone ka bhi time nai hai.
BAAT AISE KARO KI BAAT BAN JAAYE
And this one’s my favourite anecdote. I was once doing Borivali to Churchgate, was hungry and hangry but largely minding my own business. Mid way on the route (think it was Dadar), a well-served aunty hoped in and got into a verbal scuffle for some reason. Maybe she was hungry and hangry too.
Now, in a bid to calm her down, I tried dousing the fire with a “chhodo naa, jaane do naa yaar” chill pill. But my calling her “yaar” acted as the perfect namak to the already jala hua conversation. And off she went “Tum meri beti ki umar ki ho, mein tumhari dost nahi hoon ki mujhe yaar bulaavo”. I really wanted to contest that at best I could only be your chhoti sister ke umar ki, but it wasn’t wise to double the trouble. So I put my best foot forward to calm her down “Mein toh apne mummy ko bhi yaar bolti hoon, even mere papa ko bhi yaar bolti hoon, trust me yaar I said it in good spirit”. “Humare yahan yeh sab nahi chalta hai. Aap ko bhi aise nahi bolna chahiye”. She was probably right. ‘Yaar’ wasn’t part of her ‘sanskaar’. Neither the word fell within her linguistic horizon nor was it acceptable to her from a cultural pov.
While as an individual I did not agree with her then, as a copywriter I had to copy that!
Know your audience and communicate in the language they understand, not in the language you love. Get to the heart of their demographics. Embrace their cultural nuances. And then write that copy.
Advertising is commercial art. You’ve got a purpose to sell. So, go all out. But also blend in.
SISTERHOOD OVER STORIES
The experiences that you earn in a Mumbai local are immense. Not all good. Not all bad. There are rising tempers and flaring nostrils. There’s swearing and sweating. But then there’s sharing and caring. And then there’s coming together of folks from different walks of life and doing what they love – talking. Call it gossip sessions, call it a “pata hai aaj kya hua” ritual, call it an outlet to spend time till they reach the destination on time and alive. The bonding the folks share over a session of stories is much warmer than the warmest embrace.
I guess, that’s the power of stories and storytelling. Stories soothe, spur and serenade us.
Stories are a perfect lullaby, but can also perk us up to jump out of our beds and get onto the streets. Stories are perfect plates to serve nostalgia with a side of realism. Stories are playhouses for kids that double up as learning aids to nurture their moral compass.
Advertising and storytelling are joined at the hips. There’s no growing apart. There should be no growing apart. Because, don’t we all love ever-afters?