I am not a big fan of the Gandhi family but the news of Rahul Gandhi travelling by a local train in Mumbai impressed me. Now there are a few reasons for that. Firstly I have lived and worked in Mumbai for close to 2 years and personally even I found it challenging to travel by the local train. You need to be a brave heart to travel by a mumbai local. Thankfully for me I didn't have to commute using the train as my office was just 30 minutes drive from the residence.

Even if I did use the local train, it was only on weekends when the crowd was far less. Second, Rahul being a Z+ protectee to suddenly take a detour from the airport towards the Andheri station would have caught everyone by surprise. Now especially in India where politicans, bureaucrats etc love to flaunt their fleet of vehicles with red beacons even while thousands of motorists wait while the roads are cleared for them (VIPs) this comes as a breath of fresh air.

No wonder then that Rahul's co-passengers couldn't stop gushing :) In the process he also cocked a snook at the Shiv Sena which was protesting against his visit with black flags. Rahul's desire to connect with young India is a noble thought however what has surprised me is that how come he didn't mention the burning agenda which is on the mind of every common man that of price rise. Is it because the federal and state government are ruled by his own party...some food for thought this.

(Image courtesy: http://www.searchindia.com/search/mumbai-pictures/mumbai-train.html)