Shimla Station- Day 6 Indian Holiday

A late start by previous standards but then another all day of travelling down from Shimla to Kalka on the Toy Train and then onwards to Delhi on the Shabti Express.
From the relative wealth and almost full employment in Shimla, we have returned to see to some of the poorest people, living on the edge, in Kalka and Delhi. Any food left over from our packed lunches was handed out at stations to painfully thin children who were pathetically grateful for an apple or a sandwich.

The catering on these express trains,the pride of the Indian Railway system, puts British trains to shame.
On the way up to Kalka from Delhi,we were served breakfast at our seats and today on the way back to Delhi, we had an afternoon tea of sandwiches, samosas, halva, Bombay Mix (or should I say Mumbai Mix), tea, and always a bottle of water. We now have so much water, that we could almost bathe in it.

After a judicious interval, we were served dinner consisting of tomato soup, bread sticks, and wonderful ice cream in an individual container complete with wooden spatula.
And all of this is included in the cost of a ticket.

Everything served efficiently and cheerfully by a waiter carrying everything in a large tray- no trolleys to lighten his load. The clearing up was equally efficient and quick.
Apparently there are 13 million train meals served every day..... Is that believable?

As we made our way back in the dark to the luxury of a 5* hotel, we pass people setting out mattresses for the night on any available bit of roadside pavement, and even on the central reservation of a dual carriageway.
The haves and the have nots never more surely defined than here.