Here is a famous shot of Indians hanging onto the outside of a train. Here’s me on my first train ride. Nobody on the outside but me and that was just to be part of the latest trend of ways to kill yourself taking a selfie.
Americans board vehicles differently than they do in India. In the US, we have a strict but fair “No Budging” rule. In India, whether it’s a plane, train, bus or boat there’s almost always a stampede. They know they can’t all get on at the same time but they all try.
Once you’re over that hurdle, the rest of the journey has scads of compensatory charm. You’re put in compartments with six unfailingly polite fellow travelers. All day, lush changes of scenery go whizzing by every middlesex, village and farm. Some stations are just whistlestops. At others you can get out and stretch. (But don’t dawdle. A doctor I met was showing me how to dicker with station shopkeepers and before we knew it, our train was pulling away. We had to do a Dagwood Bumstead – lost a bit of our dignity but caught our train.)
Snack vendors visit regularly and the high-pitched, nasal cry of the tea sellers, “Chai! Garam Chai! – Chai! Garam Chai!” can be heard a full car length away. (Like newsboys in old movies, all tea sellers sound like they come from a single ancestor. Some prehistoric caveman tea seller, perhaps.)
I like taking Indian trains for two reasons. #1 They’re really affordable. (About nine dollars will take you over a thousand miles.) And #2 it makes you feel like you’re in a 1940’s movie – like Cary Grant or Doris Day are going to poke their head out of the bed curtains any minute.
Once it’s dark, anyone in your compartment can announce that it’s time for the group to retire. The seats convert to tiered sleeping berths in seconds with a clever arrangement of steel chains and latches. Before you can say “Good night, John Boy.” you’re all in bed, rocking along to your destination in air-conditioned comfort. And most of the year, that’s an extremely welcome comfort. They don’t call this part of the globe the Torrid Zone for nothing.