And then there were six.

And then there were six.

This is another unique feature of our locals, the “Bhajan Mandals”, groups of regular commuters, who sing (rather loudly) to the accompaniment of cymbals and brass bells and other percussion instruments. I have not experienced one in the last few months after the notice served by the Mumbai Police on their creating a nuisance in trains.

Today was another day and a great one to renew my association with them, not that I understood a word of what was being screamed, but the bonhomie that was evident in the dozen who were singing, at a time when I am on the look out for my first cuppa, the energy that flows is truly contagious. These are guys who are travelling for more than an hour in the local, to spend the entire day at work. They are willing to spend this (more than an hour in some cases) time in meditation, and sort of providing the rest of the people an earful.

After entering the train at Kurla, I was unable listen to them, let alone get closer to understand, until the train pulled into Dadar, but all I knew was that the group consisted of people in 2 aisles of the compartment, so there were at least 12 people in the group. At Dadar, the group dispersed, and then there were six.

After requesting them I have uploaded a video of their performance, the person you want to keep an eye on is the guy in the middle with his back to us, who was actually head banging to the music!

The Video (FLV format, Quality is poor, but photobucket allows only this format, only for fast internet connections because the video is streaming)

The Video (Original MOV format - Quality is good. FileFactory link, Select the free option and be prepared to wait for upto 20 seconds, the choose either FTP/HTTP download. Recommended for slow internet connections 7.8MB)

Apart from the fact that you cannot hear yourself think when they are at it, these people provide a welcome (??) relief to the passengers who are interested in Marathi folk music, if you belong to the group who dont care / cant understand I do hope that you can increase the volume of your radio / discman / ipod / anything else you carry will help you preserve sanity.


RAVi