3. Durg to Nagpur
So, in typical Pooja fashion, I waited too long to book my train ticket to Udaipur for Holi. I ended up having to ride in the the "General" compartment for 5 hours from Durg to Nagpur before I could switch to sleeper class (which is another story itself)...the term "general" just doesn't do it justice...how about "Compartment for people who don't mind having 7 people squished on the seat next to them, 2 men sleeping under their seat, 4 pairs of feet dangling above their head and a man sleeping in the luggage rack as samosa, cold drink and ice cream vendors squeeze through the crowd yelling and bargaining while it takes them 12 minutes to make their way 10 feet fire hazard." After this enlightening experience, I transferred to Sleeper class (which I also had never taken before). Aside from having to fight 5 adults and 3 children for the seat I paid for and being woken up at 5 am to a huge group singing bhajans (Indian hymns) and clapping their hands loudly and as if it was 10 am...it wasn't half as bad as "General" class...
2. Jaiselmer to Delhi
After a wonderful impromptu camel trek in the Rajasthani desert, I realized I had no way back home to Bhilai unless I took a 19 hour train to Delhi and then a flight to Raipur. About three hours before we were to reach Delhi, I jumped down from the top bunk of 3 AC and stole an empty bed near a window...while listening to my ipod, I dozed off...and when I woke up, I noticed my iPod had been stolen as I was listening to it. Um, scary. After telling the TT (guy in charge of train), he then proceeded to yell at me for being upset..."You are an educated and intelligent young woman...why are you crying?" To which I replied, "because I know how expensive that iPod was..." Little did I know that this incident was the first of many disasters post camel trekking...(see blog post about "Things I miss about America" and of course my infamous run-in with AIF staff at mcdonalds...)
1. Durg to Ahmedabad
There I was, on my way to Ahmedabad for my site visit, minding my own business, when a couple next to me decided to prompt conversation, first by offering me food, which I obviously did not deny and then immediately asking me, "Where's your susural?" which translates to "Where do your in-laws live?" Ummm yeah.
...too bad more of my train rides aren't like the movie "Jab We Met"...
(Note: this movie will come up again in a future blog entry titled "best.bollywood.movie.ever")
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