Travelling on the train

Over the past few years, i have been forced to travel to many places across the country, for academic purposes and otherwise. About 60% of the time i have taken the train route. In India, thats the most cost efficient mode of transport we have. I have grown to love train journeys. Its a very satiating experience. 

Looking out of the window, one gets the enduring images of rural and urban India- a farmer ploughing his fields, women stooping over slushy terrain to transplant rice, an occasional mighty river, slum urchins playing in a dirty sewage canal, washerwomen vigourously washing their loads of clothes in the stream-there are many and each one refreshingly different from the prevoius. The most beautiful memories are those of the landscape that stretches beyond what the eye can discern- endless green fields, scores of sunflowers, a lone tree in fields with upturned black soil and sometimes piles of rumble with patches of shrub peeing out between the rocks. Its amazing how the scenery changes within a few miles of travel.

Train journeys are social experiences.One sits hubbled in a tiny chamber with 6 other passengers (sometimes more). Sometimes no conversation ever flows between passengers, but most of the time, there is some communication. There is always a howling kid, an intrusive aunty, an aloof uncle and an elderly couple who give you a share of their food. Some of these aquiantances may move on the become friends.

One always tend to eat more and sleep more on a train journey. Prehaps its the boredom or prehaps its the numerous food sellers that pass under your nose trying to sell their food. No train journey is complete without the cries of "Chai Garma garam Chai" or "masala vada" and like.It hard to resit the whiffs of their savory wares.

Trains are lifelines that criss cross our country to bind the nation. Although divided by classes, each train traveling in this country is a mini-nation in itself, with passengers from all over the country, meeting and interacting. It amazes me to see the sheer volume of people that use the trains everyday. Its no wonder then that the Indian Railways is the largest employer world over.