CST to Vashi

chillibreeze writer — Latika Payak

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Commuting through the different stations on Harbour line, one may pensively wonder about the diversity of the terrain he or she passes. Initially the train helms through an upper level, alongside the roads of Mumbai.

The names of the stations are equally interesting. They start with a divergent category of English names, reminding us of the short fling India had with the British, giving rise to Sandhurst Road, Dockyard Road, Reay Road and Cotton Green. Subsequently they take up the archetypical Indian forms like Sewri, Wadala Road etc.

The railway line runs along patterned slums stippled with colorful linen hung out for drying. Passing dry and dusty looking stations on the way.

Post Wadala Road, the slums shrivel up giving way to wild trees and shrubs. A pink flowered shrub can also be spotted if you are adequately blessed. Modest residential societies now tag along the tracks on the other side of the boundary wall.

The GTB (Guru Tej Bahadur) Nagar platform confronts miniature fields of leafy vegetables which slowly interweave into another set of slums. Now you have reached Chunabhatti which is an intimate neighbor of Sion from the Central Line. In a while now, the Harbour line will rendezvous with the central line at Kurla junction.

A state-of-the-art local train passes by. Its shiny, newly painted look is very appealing. The proscenium of the new train has a very modern and techno look. It is primarily silver painted.

As the train paused at Kurla, many people surged in. Till now the compartment had worn an empty, deserted look, but now it looked full of life, with people scurrying here and there for seats. An expressionless vendor also entered the compartment, pitching for his delectable bhel in a sing-song voice.

Harking back to the outdoor scenes, one can see a straight clean road with white buildings and red balconies. However the red color is now intermingling with dirty brown polychromasia.

Rolling by Tilak Nagar station, one sees decent residential buildings conjugating with small counties of slums. A school playground comes into view, filled with children wearing a uniform of light blue colored shirt and dark blue colored shorts, frolicking happily on this hot winter afternoon.

Again the ghettoes start emerging. Far away a crane towers over an under-construction building. Govandi slips by. The shanty towns persist alongside. A black building peeks from behind the slums.

The train goes over a nala filled with black sewage water and more slums lining it. The tracks of Mumbai predominantly have the shanties as their veracious crony. You come across enticing orange-yellow flowers topping a shrub with long green leaves, minutes before the train enters Maankhurd station.

Maankhurd station has some open space tied to it where you can see many auto rickshaws lined up at the stand. This paves the way to smooth roads and flyovers, which is a rare sight parallel to the tracks. But you can still see the smaller versions of fields growing along the tracks intermittently.

The train has gained momentum now and you start seeing salt water marshes and lakes. A sizable parking place for the trucks is seen. Without warning, you are in the midst of a jungle full of parched trees.

Before long, the magnificent Thane creek starts. For a few minutes, you can only see water stretching in front of you in all the directions. A flock of white birds rest in the water for a while and then fly away. A parallel highway runs along on the bridge. An uncouth, isolated boat bobs up and down the creek, which has now narrowed down. The scene you witnessed seconds ago was very different from the ones you saw previously on the journey from CST. At the moment, the slums, the small fields, the buildings seem very distant. But in reality, are within a stone’s throw away.

A deviating panorama starts to form as one sees land again. Capacious, glass walled ‘Raghuleela’ mall is the first morphology, which comes in sight. A healthy white building is also sighted which is the Vashi station.

Hold your breath dear people, you are about to enter a land which has been carefully planned and developed accordingly. The platforms set up a good exemplification of the efforts taken by CIDCO for developing this part of Mumbai. The Vashi station is cooler than the stations passed previously as it is fully covered and has lots of overhead fans, which contribute to a cool welcome.

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Latika writes for chillibreeze.

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