Chugging to work

Innumerable problems loom above them, family being the major one. Family life gets totally disrupted. Often these women actually get to meet their family only over the weekends. Though coming back home after spending almost fifteen hours away from home is of great pleasure, there are also myriad jobs waiting to be done.“Sometimes we cannot join the family even for festivals,” says Kamalika. They are are also constantly compared by their children with other women who stay at home. “I feel bad for not being able to give my son due attention,” says Pradnya Deshpande, a bank employee. When asked about the reaction at home, the unanimous reply was, “why should they object? We are earning additional income to lead a better life.”

With ascending prices, additional income is always welcome. The education of children and day to day expenditures take up a huge chunk their earnings. “Even though we work so hard, at the end of the month we have almost nothing left for ourselves,” says Kamalika. We all like to spend most of our time with the family, go for an outing or for a movie. But for these women, doing such acts would be termed as an indulgence. They are caught between family and work and eventually get very little, or no time at all for themselves. In fact the only time they can claim to be solely theirs is the time they spend travelling!

Do they envy the other women who stay at home or work in Pune itself? The reaction to this is mixed. Although they regret having to go to Mumbai every day, the train journey has also increased their social connections. For instance, Shalini Dhareshwar who has been doing this for the last three decades, believes it to be a unique experience. “When my husband underwent a surgery all my `train friends’ proved to be of great help,” she says.

The passholders’ compartment becomes venue for various celebrations, whether it is a festival, a birthday or an anniversary. During navratri for instance, Dandia is performed in the train with great gusto. Collective fasts are observed, pool parties are organised or to put in a nutshell, the train journey is made as as enjoyable as possible. Knitting, sewing, jotting down recipes (though there is no time to actually prepare them) or simply chatting, these women spend the six hours of travelling most happily.

However, some women feel that the six hours spent travelling are a total waste. It strains them immensely and thus results in lower output both at home and in the office. Many a times during the rainy season they are stranded enroute, since the tracks get drowned in water. As a result they are not only late to reach work but have to do double the work the next day. Even in case of emergency situations they are not excused. “Come what may, we have to go for work. We cant afford to take a single day off” says Ujwala Akik a staff nurse.

Travelling does not stop at reaching Mumbai. A hectic bus or local train journey to the workplace follows. They admit being totally drained of strength, by the time they reach home. “Often my child is sleeping when I reach home. I have no time to talk to him, cuddle him or prepare new dishes for him. I feel very bad,” says Kamalika. Though they have a nine to five job, actually they spend the whole day grappling with work.

For these women, their in laws particularly mothers in law prove to be of immense help. They can trust the whole household with the other family members. But on coming back home irrespective of how tired they are, they have to do the household jobs. “Even when I have a night duty, there’s no sleep on coming back home,” says Sunita Hole, a staff nurse. Various health problems also emerge. Headaches, depression and other ailments are common in these women. “Last year I suffered a miscarriage as I was overburdened with work,”says Ujjwala.

It has been ages since women have been travelling thus, but close to nothing has been done by the authorities to make their daily journey smooth. The catering services are deteriorating, vendors, beggars, and other non-passholder passengers are a menace. The pass is also hard to acquire. The older generation feels that there is a certain coldness in the attitudes of the younger commuters. “The kind of warmth we used to have earlier is no more there,” says Shalini. Although these women would be glad to break free, they realise that life still goes on! The only sore point is that their efforts are hardly ever recognised or appreciated. Support and appreciation is what these women need most.