Trains

Just a quick note on the colorful train system here. I think India is famous for having the most expansive national rail network (thank you Britain). Thus, much more than the US, the railway is heavily utilized by all classes of people. When I went to Baroda, I traveled second class and sat in the Ladies Car ( I figured only women would be less smelly). When I was waiting to get on, the woman who was waiting for me asked "you dont have a handkercheif?" I had no idea what she was talking about until an hour later.

Second class has open windows and no air conditioning. The seats are wooden. One side has single seats and the other side is long benches that can usually squeeze atleast 6 people. Since mine was the first stop, I got a seat easily. I sat on one of the single seats and prided myself on having picked the prime location. The first hour was comfortable and then suddenly the train started to get packed. There were MANY more people than seats and to my surprise, a woman sat down and shared my seat with me. Before I could protest, I realize that everyone was doing the same thing. As we approached Surat, one of the larget cities, people ran along side the train handing in handkercheifs. I just watched, because I had no idea what was going on, but apparently this is a well accepted system of "calling seats." When the train stopped, most of the crowd got off the train. As the car slowly emptied, people who had been given hankersheifs placed them on the benches. Then, when the arriving crowd boarded the train, they looked for their personal hanky and sat down. I was amazed that amidst all the chaos, this system worked flawlessly. Everyone honored the hanky-placements!

I haven't traveled in the 3rd class car yet. I actually should have tested that out, because I won't have a chance to now. 3rd class is reserved for the poorest passangers, whom, as you can imagine, are quite poor. I'll definately blog if I get to have that experience!