Mumbaikars host novel train boycott

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070035507&ch=12/10/2007%206:45:00%20PM

Mumbai's local train commuters are a harried lot, but on Human Rights Day they've launched a unique protest to highlight their demand for more trains.

Monday saw empty trains leaving Virar Station at rush hour. It is one of the busiest in the long line of stations on the western railway, stretching from the north right down to Churchgate, Mumbai's business district.

This 12 hour ''boycott'' of the local trains was a protest by the commuters to highlight their troubles in the hope that the city administration is listening to them.

Unprecedented scenes were witnessed inside Mumbai's local 2nd class that is normally jam-packed.

The demands were not new, trains every 5 minutes instead of the present 10 minutes in order to ease the crowds and deployment of new rakes trains on this sector.

This style of agitation called by a Left-backed association, Prabhas Adhikar Andolan Samiti, claimed they had the support of all parties.

Life clearly isn't a smooth ride for passengers. Five lakh commuters use the trains between Borivli and Virar daily with 16-18 commuters crammed in one square metre of standing space on this sector.

The Railways and the state administration have been continuously making promises to improve the services, but they all seem to be only on paper and not in actuality.

Morning Raga

After a long time I sat through a movie on TV; a 2004's Morning Raga. I had heard about this movie and was a bit curious too.
Twenty years after a fatal bus accident, three lives altered by the tragedy become intertwined. Frustrated composer Abhinay (Rao), who survived the crash as a child but lost his mother, joins forces with two singers: Swarnalatha (Azmi), who saw her child and best friend, Abhinay's mom, perish; and pop vocalist Pinkie (Perizaad Zorabian), who lost her father. Together they all learn that music truly does have healing powers.

Really a touching movie. Its actually a feeling of disbelief once the movie ends wondering how did the writer/director weave story across generations, geographies and genres of music so well. One of those movies which nudges your heart gently and leaves you with a smile and a thought in the end.