Not crime,not politics,not chaos… just one group of people turning morning commute into something musical and oddly comforting .
This singing group has been around for around 30 years,starting first on Pallavaram Return service . After pandemic,they shifted focus to the 8.50 a.m . Tambaram local train,and somehow their spirit has continued same way only.
Om Balachandran ,a public relations inspector at the Anna Salai post office,has one funny way of describing his place in group . He says his membership is more because he listens than sings,with line,"I listen, therefore I am (a member of this group)." And honestly,that is very relatable ah .
Earlier,the group mostly used to sing devotional hymns . But with time,their playlist also changed . Now popular Tamil and Hindi film songs are big part of their sessions,though each session still starts with devotional piece.
S. Harishankar , who has been part of this for long time,sees these train rides as break from daily pressure of life . And that makes sense,because same boring commute can feel little lighter when familiar faces are singing together.
Few things standing out in this whole train music circle:
- Group started with just ten friends and has now grown to around thirty members.
- It includes a few trained professional singers and also silent participants who simply listen.
- If passengers object and want quiet,the group stops singing out of respect.
The group is fondly known as “The Train Friends,” and that name itself says a lot . Many members come from same neighborhoods,so it is not just random singing inside train,it has become small moving community.
They also connect with other singing groups across different lines,which is nice because local train life can otherwise feel so mechanical . People enter,stand,sweat,scroll,exit . Here,for some time at least,there is shared mood.
But at same time,I like that they are not forcing it on everyone . Balachandran also speaks about balancing passion for music with social awareness,and that part matters because public space belongs to all passengers,not only singers .
And maybe that is why this group has survived so many years . Songs changed,route changed,post-pandemic routine changed,but people still kept coming back to same feeling… maybe morning train needs more of this,or maybe only some coaches can handle it…
