Prayers in locals - Mumbai !!!

Blog No: 07

We always do prayers in some or the other way for some or the other reason. Prayers are done to thank God, to ask for some or the other help, to take care of health, money, family, friends, loved ones and many more. Some people pray only when they are in need, some people do as their moods is, some do it regularly but in Mumbai locals it’s something different and unique.

As we all know life line of Mumbai or we can say heartbeat of Mumbai are local trains. Early morning people rush towards stations to catch their daily timing trains. Catching trains here is like winning a war and if you get a seat you feel like a king :-). We Mumbaikar’s are always short of time, and most of them always do multitasking. While travelling in these trains you will find group of people singing devotional songs. These devotional songs are sung by commuters while travelling into the train. They are all called as Bhajan Mandals. When the group is formed they start with the songs and as the station arrives one after the other, some more people join. They are the group of commuters who travel together every day in the same compartment, same time, carrying the loudest musical instrument (dhols, taal) they can produce. In locals some people spend their time by playing cards, sleeping and some do stupid things standing at the exit but the best way to spend time is singing with these groups of people. I myself being a daily commuter always see these people singing in loud voice and enjoying. When I am with them I forget my problems, frustrations, stress free. I personally believe it’s a tension-reducing activity. Nowadays, some group have also started singing vintage Bollywood songs, pop songs and Marathi songs too.

I observed once that two students were playing games in their phones. This Bhajan Mandal started singing their devotional songs and immediately one guy side “inka natak chalu hogaya, ab yeh nai rukne wala”. They were not getting disturbed or irritate, they were trying to be different
, I mean stupid :-).

This is a short video of group of people singing in local trains of Mumbai.

Thank you.

https://twitter.com/AsitChaurasia