Dining

…..The prospect of such a long train journey, did not bother me in the least, especially after five weeks in a bus, I was perhaps a little apprehensive, as I had neglected to bring any food or drink onto the train.

However my initial worries were unfounded and dispersed as hordes of peddlers climbed on board, bringing food, drink, tobacco, newspapers and various other goods at each stop. Chai (or tea) was handed through the wooden slats, that served as windows at each stop and even when the train was still a few yards from stations. These containers for the tea were beautiful, hand-made clay cups and I bought this delicious sweetened tea for a mere pittance. I kept my cup expecting the seller to return for the vessel any second as the train would be leaving the station soon. The clay pots were surprisingly regarded as worthless and perishable, thus when he did not come back, I just followed the example of my fellow passengers and threw the container onto the rails as we left the station, shattering one man’s fine handiwork into a million tiny fragments, something to baffle future generations of Indian archaeologists on both sides of the rails in railway stations, one would become aware of the remnants of many smashed clay pots and one wondered at the millions of very satisfied customers.

Lunch was often served on a silver tray (no expense spared) and consisted mostly of dhal (i.e. lentil curry with the consistency of runny lentil soup), chapattis and liquid but delicious natural yoghurt. Snacks were also brought on board the train at each stop, some of these were samosas (envelopes of pastry with curried potato and vegetable filling) or beans or a variety of peas, either served on leaf plates (i.e. leaves) or else wrapped in old newspapers….