Counting some blessings

A hint of 'winter' chill in the air finally, this morning. Maybe NOW the temperatures might drop.. One lives in hope.

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On my way back home last night past 9.30, in a packed train even at that hour, I wondered at the blessings that the working women (are there any other kind?!) of this city can be grateful for. Here's a list:

1) For Ladies Compartments in local trains.

2) For 'Ladies Special' trains : I think Mumbai is the only city on the planet which devotes an entire 12 coach train to women at peak hours (or any hours!). It's quite a sight, to see a train full of thousands of women going somewhere.

3) For relatively safe public transport : Notwithstanding the occasional chain snatching, rape, molestation and harassment, Mumbai is THE safest place in the country for women to travel - anytime of the day or night. Even alone. Buses are safe, ladies compartments are always full, even on the last train (talking about WR here; it's a lot less crowded on CR and Harbour Line trains), taxis and auto rickshaws can usually be relied on to reach you safely to your destination.

4) Shops that stay open late in the night or forever : This city never shuts down. Women can always find a shop that stays open late or an accommodating vegetable hawker down the road for emergency supplies. There are cobblers, tailors, alteration 'specialists', boutiques, shopping malls, bakeries, gourmet eating places, pubs, coffee shops, florists, cake shops, cyber cafés, STD/ISD booths, gift shops et al that stay open long after usual closing hours in the Western world, where most places shut shop around 6 and the employees go home to their families and live a Life. Here, shops stay open to cater to the working-permanently stressed out-have-to-go-home-to-cook-dinner-and-feed-the family types, college kids without a care in the world except getting the latest cell phone, tourists who are happy to find late night places still throbbing with a lot of life... Bless all those who work in such places way past their bed-time...

5) For job opportunities of every kind : Mumbai is a city where one can dream big and live to realize the dream in one's lifetime. We hold a promise of the kind that America stands for (in theory at least!) - of prosperity, of making every dream a reality, of being the land of wealth and prosperity. We have no dearth of rags to riches stories. And we'll keep drawing more people here, because it's the one place in the country where you can dare to do what you want to. And not be ostracized for it.

6) For the freedom to dress, talk, walk, live your life the way you want to.

I'm sure there are many more blessings, just as there are many more things that can be done to make our lives a lot easier, but for now, this shall suffice. If any MW's out there have any more blessings to count, do write in!