For Mumbaikars, the M-indicator app is a lifesaver for those travelling in and around the city. The app gives real-time transportation updates and with Mumbai under the grip of incessant rains, it is a handy tool for office goers. However, one inventive Mumbaikar demonstrated how to use the app's chat feature to get assistance from strangers and get his boss to approve a day off.
For the uninitiated, M-Indicator is a popular transportation-related smartphone application that primarily gives information about public transit in the city, such as buses and trains. Users frequently use specialised chat rooms to seek information on the whereabouts of the train they wish to catch. However, one person named Bryan Miranda exploited the facility to provide proof to his supervisor that railway services were disrupted.
A screenshot of the humorous chat shows Miranda requesting fellow train travellers to reply to his question that trains were affected after Goregaon. Soon, several users lied and said "no". "Are trains working after Goregaon?" he asked, to which hundreds of passengers quickly replied, "No."
With heavy rains pounding Mumbai for the past two days, and everyday life being disrupted by waterlogging, power outages, and local train operations getting affected, it wasn't an inexplicable scenario. After a few moments, the man returned to the chatroom to thank everyone and announce that his week off had been approved.
After someone published a screenshot of the chat on a Mumbai subgroup on Reddit, it went viral. "M-indicator train chats never disappoint you," the inlaid text said besides a quote from the iconic movie 'Lagaan' that read 'Hum Jeet Gaye.'
While netizens in the city acknowledged that pulling off such tricks was entirely doable, referring to it as the spirit of Mumbaikars, others quipped that his supervisor may have noticed the chat. "And you just outed the guy," one user wrote.