Illustration/ Ravi Jadhav

The Bombay local was once a symbol of romance - Amol Palekar and Tina Munim sang a romantic song that kept time with their thudding hearts and the train’s steady pace. Vivek Oberoi (practically as mythic a figure now) made Rani Mukherjee his girlfriend in them. It has been a sign of Bombay’s business like efficiency, can-do spirit, monsoon flooding, bhajan-singing, antakshari-playing urban intimacy, its cosmopolitan life, complete with terrifying fishmongers who could give you an earful, tempting earring sellers and helpful co-passengers. The arts organisation Junoon has a fabulous weekly arts talk that travels through the city all month called Mumbai Local, just like its namesake. Arundhati Subramanium wrote about a woman who wondered whether to dice carrots or a lover and decided to postpone the latter, yaniki make him a late lover a little later.