40 minutes

Her head was spinning and she felt her world suddenly tilt. She tried moving to one side to let in some fresh air. However, there was no space. She felt trapped. She could feel something poking her in the back. She once again tried to move herself, but she seemed to have no energy. 'Where am I?', was her last coherent thought before her felt her eyelids droop...

It was awhile before she regained consciousness. The crowd hadn't moved yet she had a feeling of having moved ahead. She could sense movement. As if someone had bodily lifted her and was walking or running. She tried looking down. But her feet were firmly placed on the floor. There was no one holding her or carrying her. The feeling persisted. Where am I, she once again wondered, trying to crane her head over the crowd for a glimpse of the surroundings. However, there was nothing she could see as her nose was level with the oiled, shiny head of the person standing before her, blocking air-flow.

She could not remember anything. Perspiration was slowly breaking out on her forehead. And just then, in a flash, it came to her. She remembered she was now in Mumbai. The city of dreams. But it now seemed like the city of nightmares. She had shifted here just two days back. Thinking about the shift, reminded her of the date. Today was supposed to be the first day of work! Perhaps she shouldn't have left home without breakfast, in such a rush... She remembered standing on the platform waiting for a train to CST. The indicator had said 4 minutes. An unexpected wave of nausea hit her then though she remembered seeing the train snake towards the platform. After that, her memory was a blank.

How had she entered this mass of humans, cramped together, almost crushing her, she didn't know. She tried racking her brains wondering whether she had entered the train and had gotten off somewhere or did some abduct her and leave her in the middle of nowhere? Nothing was making sense to her. The person in front of her suddenly moved giving her a chance to gulp in some air before being crushed again.

She felt a sudden push and lurched ahead. As people around her moved, or just tried balancing themselves, she quickly escaped into what looked like an alley. It was a small, tiny space with room for barely one person. The place was however crowded with even up to 3 people in some places. She suddenly spotted some benches lining the alley. Each small bench with 3-4 people cramped on it. Her eyes fell on 2 children fighting for what looked like a soggy biscuit on one of the benches. They seemed oblivious to the crowd, lost in their own world. The mother, she guessed it was the mother, had shut her eyes as her head dropped on her lap. She was amazed at how someone could even think of sleeping in such a situation!

It was hopeless, she realised. Her head was already swimming and she felt like throwing up. The crazy October heat did nothing to help her. The sunlight streaming in the small space just added to her discomfort. She tried reaching into her bag for the bottle of water only to be met with empty space.

Panic gripped her. She swiftly turned around to locate her bag. And instantly regretted the sudden move as she felt another wave of nausea hit her along with a jarring jab from the bangles of the woman standing somewhere around her. One hand on her forehead, she tried wiping the sweat off her

skin with the edge of her Saree. But the other hand was stuck, well and true.

She could not understand anything. There were people who were laughing and chatting. The sound felt alien to her. She wanted to scream! How could anyone joke around in such a situation? Couldn't they see she was lost?! She could sense some people looking at her oddly. Few were even commenting, though she wondered if they were whispers directed towards her or general conversation. Finally, mustering up some courage, she asked the woman on the bench closest to her, “Excuse me, is this Mumbai?” The woman just looked at her oddly as if she was mad and shifted slightly away on the bench. She decided to repeat the question thinking the lady perhaps did not understand English. “Excuse me, ye Mumbai hai?”

The woman on the bench now looked at her shocked. She could feel sniggers around her. Her heart was in her throat, waiting for the answer. The woman on the bench curtly replied “Nahi. America hai. Subah subah main hi mili thi kya? Dimaag kharab mat kar.”

The sniggers grew louder as she tried making sense of those words. She wondered what such a crowd was doing in such a narrow alley. No one seemed to be headed anywhere. What city was this? What ---

Suddenly, a fat man seated near the end of the passage decided to move out. In his hurry to walk off, he accidentally brushed against her. She felt something tug her shoulder and was relieved to find her bag hanging there. While the bag was still stuck in the human mass, the strap was firmly on her shoulder. She tried tugging it with weak hands. Luckily, a helpful person noticed her efforts, helping her tug it out.

Why was everyone sniggering at her? Couldn't someone help her. Everytime she wanted to ask someone a question, they turned away. Did she look funny? Was there some mark on her face? She took in a deep breath trying to calm her frayed nerves. Finding her bag soothed her a bit. The purse had everything in it. Her wallet, her identity proofs, some memories... Finding them surely calmed her but another lurch and she felt herself thrown ahead.

She pulled someone's arm in a bid to steady herself. However, the sudden movement threw her completely off balance and she unceremoniously landed on the bag of a seated person. She yelped in pain as she felt the edge of the bench hit her on her thigh. She looked around, expecting a hand to help her up. Instead of compassion, she was met with cold, hard stares. People stared at her as she slowly got up, hobbling on one foot. The space she stood before had already been usurped. She was pushed to one corner with barely space to place one foot.

She continued battling her nausea while trying to get an idea of her surroundings. She tried asking a few people around again, but her voice failed her. She finally got a chance to pull out her bottle of water, and felt better after a few sips.

Suddenly she spotted a vendor pushing his way through the crowd. The smell of guavas wafted towards her. She tried beckoning the man, hoping the guava would make her feel better. Just one bite and her assumptions proved wrong. This time she felt bile in her throat and did her best to calm herself. If asking questions earned such a response, she did not know what vomiting might lead her to.

She glanced at her watch and realised it was nearly 40 minutes that she seemed to have entered the hell hole. She was desperate to get out. She wonder how much longer she would have to endure the suffering.

Her legs felt weak and she wondered how much longer she could hold on. The vertigo was making the world go round. She clutched her bag, her one solace to sanity tightly to her chest and tried taking a deep breath. But her chest felt constricted by an iron hand. It was getting difficult to breathe and she once again felt her lids closing...

Just as she gave in, crumpling to the floor, she heard the voice. "Please pay attention. This train will go to the yard."

She finally felt herself relax as the station rolled in and the train emptied. There was no glance, no pity directed towards the woman lying on the now empty bench...