[Reader-list] Women in Trains - Postscript

[Zainab Bawa]

Dear All,

This is a Postscript to my train research, the Sarai fellowship phase of 
which is now over.

29th August 2004

I am in Srinagar. Back to square one is a phrase most appropriate for my 
research process because I have come back to that very place which helped me 
see my city differently. Srinagar city inspired me to look at issues of 
crowd, identity, ownership and community, and I took to Mumbai's local 
trains.
There is a sense of peace within me while I am in the Valley now. The Valley 
is slow-paced - time drags on with each cup of Kashmiri salt tea. My mind 
goes back to the local trains in Mumbai, the railway station being a site of 
chaos, confusion, rush, commotion, hostility, understanding and 
misunderstanding. And before me is the landscape of the Valley - the waters 
of the Dal Lake, the benign and cruel mountain ranges of the Zabarwan and 
Pir Panjal, the army and the civilians, the outsiders and the insiders. I 
don't know which border I stand on.
In Mumbai, I stand on the border of Central Railway from the brink of which 
I see the Western Railway, the Harbour Line and the City. I am part of the 
crowds, yet I am apart. My eyes are watching them and maybe I am being 
watched. The crowds are both personal and impersonal. I imagine I am an 
observer, but I am a participant too.
The cinema of life is created everyday here on the local trains and it is a 
film of ectasy and sorrow, of mundane and novelty, of excitement and 
drudgery. There are parallels and contradictions. Each one of us embodies 
and represents each of these shades. The space is not by itself and neither 
are we by ourselves. Time stands tall, almighty! Time - holy be thy name, 
your kingdom come, your will be done, on this earth as it is on this railway 
station and in the trains!!!


8th August 2004

Shaizeen is my companion today as I travel from Kurla to Byculla. She is 
about 5 years old, loves pungent food and is quite a grown up lady. Her 
mother is a slave to her whims and fancies. Shaizeen demonstrates how she is 
capable of taking good care of herself and ensuring that others around her 
assist her when need be. She is nibbling away at the spicy peanuts while her 
mother cribs about how she would not touch the dal at home saying it is too 
pungent.
Shaizeen is one of the most fragile users of this city and of the trains. I 
wonder whether the train is meant is meant for fragile people? Or does it 
make fragile people 'strong'? The train is a cruel and nurturing space - 
people say it is becoming selfish in today's times. What is this time? And 
what is this time doing to the train space?


Attached in this postscript is a brief essay of the findings of the research 
during the six month period. I would appreciate if people on this list could 
come up with suggestions of avenues, ways and means in which the work could 
proceed and the knowledge and information can spread and a dialogue 
initiated.

With warm regards,
Zainab Bawa

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