meetings and trains

after bangalore, i was complaining like hell about the traffic in bombay, cursing aloud at the fact that it takes me sometimes two hours to get from andheri to borivili. today instead on the way to town i took the train to a meeting at the all india institute of local self gov. where in a presentation i was shown fascinating figures and maps tracing motion of all sorts in the city. train densities, walk routes, number of bus rides, job locations. 20 million is the population right now. 47% of it is slums. only 10% of the developable land in the city is vacant. and in a crowded train there are 16 people per sq mt of floor space! 16? its madness.

on the way back the train was quite bearable in spite of the fact that i caught a 6.15 fast. i could stand quite peacefully in my little corner and read my john lecarre, without having to look above someone elses shoulder. in fact everyone was quite accommodating. thanks to them i am quarter of my way through ‘absolute friends’.