….I was a bit better organised at this stage, and as I could not afford to have any of my precious rupees taken, so I carried all of my rupees on my person in a small shoulder bag. As we filed into line to be searched, (this would be a very thorough search, impossible to get through), I managed to choose my moment, split-second timing was required, and escaped unnoticed into the bureau d’exchange and cashed a five-dollar travellers cheque. I got a ridiculously low official rate for my five dollars, but I dragged the actual exchange out as long as possible, as it was crucial to my master plan.
After this process, I spotted that the passengers, who had already been searched, were standing outside the bus, so I walked over to join them, shaking like a leaf, but luckily I remained unobserved. I was shivering in my shoes even though the climate was markedly warmer. I had made it. I had succeeded over this last difficult hurdle.
I was in India after all these trials and tribulations.
To begin with all the engines were steam-driven, this was a pleasure in itself, but in addition, many of these train used to run on British rails. Further confusion arises because of the various types of gauges used in India. The Indians also have a different conceptualisation of when a train is full. In Britain we usually mean, when all the seats available are full and there are a few safe, standing passengers, whereas in Indian terms, such a trainload would be regarded as almost empty. Of course this meant that there were hundreds of people riding on the roof and hanging out of the windows and doors.
There were also a wide variety of classes for travel on Indian railways, e.g. air-conditioned, first-class, second-class, third class and then the rest. During the journey, many pilgrims and others hop on and off as the train slows down near station. In fact one feels that the drivers deliberately slow down or stop just before the train enters a station, merely to let these non- paying guests get on or off. These people did not buy a ticket, nor did they have any money for tickets, nor were they expected to buy a ticket, they just climbed up on the roof or into the portion of the carriage used to carry cattle and other livestock.
As we were westerners and thus regarded as wealthy, we were expected to buy tickets and when we requested third class tickets, we were looked on with astonishment. Even the first-class Indian passengers could not believe that we would travel at less than first-class….
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