Conversations on Trains
May 14th, 2006 | Published in dispatch | 12 Comments
The various train classes on Indian trains are a good indicator of several things. Travelling in Tier 3AC - sleeper class with air-conditioning, one can reasonably assume English-speaking Indians, who are businessmen or even doctors, and are likely to spend the train journey debating in English about the elections. It is also noticed that one finds very specific types of travellers on certain classes. The Sudder-Street-I’m-in-India-for-6-months type typically on sleeper class; the European couples in their late 20s and early 30s on Tier 3AC or 2AC, together with the spoilt girls from Singapore who can’t bear dust and sweat on an overnight train.
I was in the train from New Jalpaiguri to Mughal Sarai a few weeks ago, when a New Delhi doctor in my cabin started talking about ‘those Southeast Asians who love India’. He said he had an Indonesian Chinese classmate at medical school in Delhi, who loved India so much that she married a Gujarati boy named Sam Patel, and settled down here.
He added - maybe you could do that, too.
My head began flashing scenes of my Gujarati wedding, except to a Rupa Patel rather than a Sam. I don’t know if Rupa Patel’s big Gujarati family will be more upset with her for marrying a non-vegetarian and a drinker, or for marrying a woman.
