We looked on in horror as we saw a young man jump onto the railway line and run across to the opposite platform in the nick of time before a train came screeching into Navsari railway station. But it seems the tracks are an extension of the social scene, as we saw people jump down from trains waiting in the station, walk across the tracks to gossip, hand things to people in other carriages, or simply decide to change the one they were on for another one! Perhaps they'd got bored with the ones in theirs. The worst bit is the getting on to the train: little old ladies will jab you in the stomach with their bony elbows, young men will thrust their bag into your back and crush you as you try to avoid trapping your leg between the train door and platform, or simply try and jostle you out of the way. But I have a secret weapon: a 6ft burly Goryo ( white man) who can muscle in with the best of them, with a Guji ( Gujerati ) girl desperately hanging on to his shirt tails!
We had always had a reservation in 1st class, which is like a plane journey: plush reclining seats, lots of attentive food sellers coming throughout your journey, and porters to carry your luggage on and off the the train. This was a very different experience: seats? We were not quick enough to nab one, or even floor space, as people sat crosslegged or squatted on every bit of floor space.
Whilst you are waiting at the platform a goods train or an express will race through the station with a cacophonous sounding of its horn. Some of these trains are up to 50 carriages long, the platforms on the stations are equally long to allow access to all parts of the train. Sometimes it feels like you have walked half the way to your destination by the time you've walked along the platform. Whilst we were waiting at a station we saw these beautiful small birds carefully drinking from an open ended vertical pipe. Very clever.
Later that day we packed for the journey to Sri Lanka and then were invited for a beautiful Gujurati style evening meal with the family next door, and then off to the railway station to catch the 11pm train to Mumbai. This was the first leg in our journey to Sri Lanka, and it got us off to a good start because it turned out to be a sleeper carriage. We were in a compartment with six bunks, three above one another on each side. Savi had a bottom bunk and I had to clamber up over existing sleeping people onto a top bunk. Having safely got up onto the bunk you have to spread the newly laundered sheets and settle down to sleep. I have to say it was very comfortable and both Savi and I managed to get about 3-4 hours of sleep. The gentle swaying of the railway carriage reminded me of when I slept on the deck of the ferry from Turkey to Cyprus, somehow it seems very easy to sleep when you are being gently rocked. This is probably why babies always seem to go to sleep when they are on car journeys or being taken for a walk in a pram! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Valsad train journey
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