This crowd is waiting for their train to arrive.Ahh, the joys of travel by train. We went "Sleeper Class" today from Agra to Jaipur. Sleeper Class means no air conditioning and as many people as will fit into a car. The 6x12 foot compartment I was consigned to had 20 people in it at one point. Then a family, fearing their small kids would try to learn to fly before their wings were fully developed, shut half of the windows. It was the first time in my life that I was so hot I did not sweat.
Still, it was interesting to watch the Indian families interact with each other. Anne and I get looked at, but they rightly assume we don’t understand their language and they discourse with one another as if we weren't there.
There were also many interesting things to see on the way: Cows munching languidly on plastic bags, an entire community--men, women, and children--digging a dike and irrigation system for their farmland, abandoned railcars which had wrecked off the tracks and fallen into a swamp…
Rather than hire a car and driver for between $850 and $3000 per month, we've decided to take the train everywhere. Not only is this method less expensive, but it also squares with our conviction that people should generally drive less. If everyone in India gets a car, then I will not be surprised if the planet finally shrugs us off once and for all. And just because we might have the means, doesn’t mean that we have the right to add to the problem. If an occasional trip in poor Sleeper Class helps save the planet (and spare humanity), then it is a bargain indeed.
Still, it was interesting to watch the Indian families interact with each other. Anne and I get looked at, but they rightly assume we don’t understand their language and they discourse with one another as if we weren't there.
There were also many interesting things to see on the way: Cows munching languidly on plastic bags, an entire community--men, women, and children--digging a dike and irrigation system for their farmland, abandoned railcars which had wrecked off the tracks and fallen into a swamp…
Rather than hire a car and driver for between $850 and $3000 per month, we've decided to take the train everywhere. Not only is this method less expensive, but it also squares with our conviction that people should generally drive less. If everyone in India gets a car, then I will not be surprised if the planet finally shrugs us off once and for all. And just because we might have the means, doesn’t mean that we have the right to add to the problem. If an occasional trip in poor Sleeper Class helps save the planet (and spare humanity), then it is a bargain indeed.
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