the train journey - day 1

Today I started off on my 26-hour long train journey from Hyderabad to Kolkata. To begin with, I was quite excited as I haven't made such a long journey in a while. In such long journeys we meet all sorts of people. Traveling, sharing, playing together with them, we don't realize when such long journeys come to an end. But the excitement was short-lived. My fellow passengers were not too exciting. There was a family with a 4-year old girl traveling next to me. I like kids, especially the young girls - they are wonderful. But this particular one was - sorry to say, irritating. She was ill-behaved, adamant, really really really stubborn and nasty. I know it is rude to say such things about a 4-year old, but I that's how things were. And I don't think I can blame the child. I have noticed particularly in Bengali families that they are over caring about their kids. They wont let the child do anything by himself, give instructions to the kids on how to do even simplest of simple things in day to day life, prohibit the child from doing a lot of things which might be a little more adventurous than the regular day to day activities. They don't let the child fall, bruise and bite the dust. As a result, I have seen many of them turn out into delicate darlings as they grow up. This particular kid, I was not at all impressed with.

In our compartment, there was traveling some VIP, with some of his uniformed, armed bodyguards. The one you see here saw the camera in my hand and asked the oft repeated question - "are you from press?". When I told him it is just a hobby and showed him a couple of pictures I have clicked, he pulled out his pistol (real one) and asked if I mind taking a picture of him. Well, I am not the one who's carrying a gun so I presume I don't have a say here. While I checked the settings on my camera, he took a couple of minutes to 'check himself out' in the mirror - making sure his hair is in place. He posed as James Bond in front of the mirror to check how he looks. I waited paitiently (again, I am not the one who's carrying a gun). I clicked him and showed it to him. Before he could see properly and say anything, his superior showed up and it seemed that he saw this whole exercise. They had some conversation among themselves in a language that I don't understand. I guessed that his boss was not happy with him getting clicked (some security crap I'm sure).

Another man I met today was a jewellery wholesaler. He was talking to someone on his phone and I was trying to decipher which language he was using. In India, there's saying - "after every mile, water changes and after every four, language". There are so many languages and dialects spoken here and each one of them are so different from the other that it is not surprising that people from one part of the state don't understand what their counterparts from the other corner of the state speak. When he got off the phone, I asked - "was it Rajasthani?" "Yes, almost...it is Marwari actually. Real Rajasthani language, even I cant understand". We got talking and he told me about some tricks of his trade - how people mix various metals with gold and pass off a 15-16 carat gold as 20-22. It was quite interesting to know that the importance of education developed in his community only about a decade ago. Before that, almost all young ones grew up to join the family business.

I still have one more day to go and am sure more stories will unfold. Back to the last few pages of Lance Armstrong's book and then off to sleep. Have almost an entire day in the train tomorrow.