Crooners beat the commuter blues on the long suburban line from Chennai to Tiruvallur
Some of the members of the singing group of amateur commuters on the suburban train line from Chennai Central to Tiruvallur | Photo credit: Special arrangement
At 7:30 local time from Tiruvallur to Chennai Central, compartment three (third from the driver’s cabin) serves as a jukebox. This one-off model, this jukebox creates live singing performances. Beginners are usually amazed to hear the vocal tones drowning out the hums and screeches of a commuter electric train and rising in cadence over the occasional clatter of its wheels. No professional singers in sight; nor trained musicians. And the vocals can be ragged at the edges at times. Commuters are voices, untrained, occasionally rough-textured, but irresistibly real.
It’s a group forged for commuting. People from different walks of life, from different offices, who stay together on the commute because they sang together as the train takes them to work and home. It’s an ‘encore’ on the 18:25 local from Chennai Central to Tiruvallur, the band stretching their vocal cords again. This is a motivational reminder that between deadlines at work and chores, there’s always a place for relaxation to settle into.
This “commuter choir” is as loosely defined as its daily playlist (Tamil and occasionally Hindi songs) and its list of singers. As with any oral tradition, there are several elements to its identity and history. The singers would roll out a variety of names for the group. Some have nicknamed it “Rail Ragam”. Others stick to a rather idealized idea of it, choosing to keep it nameless, thus deepening the mystique. I. Jayaseelan, an advocate and key member of the group, has an origin story for the group that is intertwined with the big bang cosmogony. “No one started it; the group was born suddenly. No one knows how,” notes Jayaseelan. P. Venugopal, who joined the group in 2003 and contributes banjo music on the journey, takes a “creationist” view, pointing out that it was started by a railway employee and the young group was pampered and nurtured by the diversity of commuters. Points of agreement include the group’s longevity, which is approaching 40 years. Group Composition: Employees from Government Hospital, Secretariat, LIC, Port, Association Lawyers at Supreme Court and also from many private companies. There is no formal membership. People get on and off as if they wanted a train.
However, a voice accustomed to observing an audience helps to hold court in a crowded compartment. Those who sing all the time have a habit of singing in challenging environments. Jayaseelan reveals that he has a music group called “Inisaai Saral”. Musical instruments such as rhythm pads are brought by the members. Even the sides of the chamber are used as a drumming surface.
While commuting, singers are known to be offered small gifts, usually food, if the listener is moved by the singing. “The best gifts are not materialistic; they come as awards that we accept with both hands,” points out Jayaseelan. “Listeners often get so lost in the music that they miss their target and miss it by a few stations. Sometimes they deliberately miss their target in order to listen to more tracks.”
A train compartment is a shared space and some commuters may want the sanctity of these spaces and their peace to be protected. And that would mean, hey, don’t sign up for an impromptu gig.
“Sometimes singers can get carried away and be too loud for the comfort of bystanders. There have been cases where a singer has been ‘taken away’ by the railway police. He was not arrested, just taken away,” says Jeyaseelan.
The Advocate notes that “the singing does not die down; and the phenomenon is hardly unique to the locals from Chennai Central to Tiruvallur. There is a long-standing singing group on the suburban line from Chennai Beach to Tambaram; and another on the Chennai Beach to Tiruvallur line.”
What’s more adorable than singing in these train groups are the notes of camaraderie and relaxation that are softly echoed. Strangers become companions. Weary commuters will find solace. The old soul feels renewed and breathes nostalgia.
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Published – 20 June 2026 20:50 IST