To my mind, a railway journey is something that starts at a crowded Indo-Saracenic building, where you arrive 1 hour early to find that there’s another train on the platform, and two more to go by until yours arrives. Then you get into a second-class sleeper (these days, with air conditioning), stash your luggage under the seat, spend some time negotiating with other people there as to when the middle berth is to be raised/lowered, and when to switch off the lights, a few hours of reading on the top berth, if allowed.

Gentle swaying, noisy engines, the hawkers selling “tea-coffee-tea-coffee”, different snacks, or even soup!

And at the end of the journey, at about 4 AM, you get down at a deserted station, and there’s someone – in my case, my grandfather – who’s been waiting for you to come in!

All part of the dirty, wonderful, fascinating world of the Indian Railways!

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