Mumbai

After being posted for few months in Kalyan, I finally got my relieving orders for NF Railways. The GM/CR Mr. BB Modgil gave consent to relieve me. The period in Mumbai had been unexpectedly wonderful and enjoying. I had always wished to live in Mumbai. Though this time it was only three months, it gave me the sense of fun to be a Mumbaikar. I used to get up early everyday, then catch local to Dadar, from where I boarded Udyaan Express till Kalyan. Everything was set to seconds. Even a delay by few seconds would mean that I will not be able to catch the train. In Kalyan, the work pressure was lower than that in Pune Diesel Shed. But it required more decision making as a DME in Kalyan as Kalyan had only three Officers-Sr.DME(D),DME(D),ADME(D). In the evening, I always made it a point to visit someone or the other. The weekends I utilized in going to various places like Elephanta caves, Water Kingdom, BPT Garden for Phalun Dafa classes. Phalun Dafa is a kind of meditation practice and popularised in China. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy articulated by its founder, Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong places a heavy emphasis on morality and the cultivation of virtue in its central tenets of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. The visit to Water Kingdom was accompanied by my friends in Railways-Manish, Satish, Himanshu and Mohit. It was great fun taking water rides in the Summer season. In June, monsoon comes to Mumbai. And as is said, Mumbai has one of most awesome rainy season. Driving in the rains on the roads of Mumbai is real fun except for places with heavy traffic. During my stay in Mumbai, we had one fest in Nirmal Park, conferences in HQ, farewell function to the GM on his retirement. During the final week in Mumbai, Manisha also joined me. I packed my car and some luggage in the VPU. The loading at Wadibunder was big experience. It took a full day to load my car and luggage due to unavailability for VPU which I had booked twenty days in advance. Finally I bid adieu to Mumbai. And it was after almost two years of marriage that Manisha and I would think of living together. We took Rajdhani to go to Guwahati via Delhi.