Class Apart

Anybody who has lived in Mumbai must have travelled atleast once by the local train - our lifeline. Trains are the best place to observe the diverse variety on people living in Mumbai. I have travelled by both, the first and second class. The difference between the commuters never ceases to amaze me. Both compartments have people from different economic backgrounds for obvious reasons. But the behavioural difference between them stands out. What defines a person are his actions. So how do the actions of these two types of people differ? (Second class - type 1 and First class - type 2).

Type 1 generally are more vocal and loud. Talking on the cell phone, bargaining with the vendor or fighting for that coveted 4th seat, they are loud and animated. They prefer to gossip, snooze, shop or prepare for the evening meal than anything else.

On the other hand, type 2 people are quiet. They hate to make unneccesary conversation, let alone fight for a seat. The two things that they do are listen to music or READ. You would feel in a middle of a book club with more than 45% of the commuters reading something or the other. Right from business mags to non-fiction to reference books to foreign language books.Hardly 5% of type 1 people read in the train.

It is amazing that how a train journey of 20 minutes can open your eyes to the different types of people around you!