two sides of a train

7/25/08

Part 1: Kanyakumari to Madurai

It's my first train ride in India and I'm excited. I hop onto the train, and immediately strike up a conversation with a friendly PHd student headed to Chennai. Ticket man comes, turns out i have a general ticket, but my new friend manages to get me bumped up to sleeper class without a fine. I chat with my new friend as we look out over the passing landscape. It's beautiful. Tall rocky mountains meet with billowy white clouds that are so thick, you don't know where one ends and the other begins. I stare at bright green paddy fields that look like they've been color corrected in photoshop. I lazily click some photos as the rocking of the train lulls me into a type of trance. We pass over a lazy river that cuts through the rocky landscape. I look down to see men and women on the edges of the river washing and bathing. One lone man stands bare chested up to his waist in the middle of the calm water. The train rattles on. As the sun sets I make out the outline of a woman in a sari gliding along a dirt path, the rice fields behind her. She balances a bale of hay on her head. the train rattles on. As it becomes dark and the full moon rises, i lay down on my birth and am rocked to sleep by the swaying of the train.

Part 2: Madurai to Ooty

It's after midnight, and I'm still sweating, the Madurai heat hasn't let up. A few dozen mosquitoes buzz around my head as I wait on the platform. I'm tired but am looking forward to my second train ride. To pass the time as I wait for my train to arrive I start thinking off all the great train scenes from movies. The old black and white movies with well dressed women making witty conversation with dapper men in dining cars, old westerns with cowboys jumping from their horses onto moving trains....
I don't have a sleeper car ticket, but am unconcerned as my last train ride went so smoothly....My train arrives... "FULL" the ticket man says abruptly brushing me aside. "But i have a 7 hour journey, I need a bed" "FULL, go to general car" One look in the general car with it's wooden benches that are already packed from wall to wall with sweating passengers (and if i'm not mistaken a few livestock), has made me determine this is not an option. The ticket man tries to usher me out of the sleeper car, but it's too late, the train is already moving....This is not going to plan...My only option is to sit on the floor between two of the cars. I sink down into the corner, and stare out the slats in the door at the black night. I then catch a whiff of the urine....yep, i'm 2 feet away from the train's bathroom, I squeeze closer to the door trying to catch a breeze. The jolting train hurts my bum. I don't even want to think about the last time this floor has been cleaned. All images of my romantic train movies quickly disintegrate as I catch another whiff of my accommodations. I try hard to remember a movie that had a train scene that took place next to the urinals...nothing comes to mind....I might have to reconsider my take on buses...it's a long 7 hours