Growing Independent
I was in high school (or junior college whatever you know it as – basically 11 th , 12 th ), when I first learnt travelling by Mumbai locals – alone. That was the first step, a tiny one, but yet first among the many more to come later on. Those 2 years were some learning. And although I traveled only 2 stations – Mulund and Thane (Mumbaikars will know that it is no big deal traveling between these 2 places), my confidence had gone up way high. There isn’t something worth being so proud of in traveling by locals in Mumbai. Millions do it every day, for longer distances, in crazier conditions. But for me, who had managed to travel barely twice a year by train (that too never without getting hyper), it was a huge achievement. The following 2 years were pretty eventful in terms of travelling alone. I had buses breakdown in the middle of nowhere, trains cancelled leaving me stranded, catching trains running and what not. It made me aware of the kind of sheltered life that I had been l...