Saturday, 9th October 2008
Outskirts of DelhiThe wide gauge railway tracks that covered India were a
legacy from the colonial days of the British Empire. Passengers exhibited scant respect for the interiors of the carriages and the trains showed their age. On the longer journeys, such as Luke and Kirin’s, the train offered three different classes of ticket. They made do with the cramped and unpleasant conditions of the third class compartment at the tail end of the train. While in the densely packed carriage, they seldom spoke to each other and never in earshot of other passengers. Although English was India’s second language, it was still relatively rare among the peasant classes.
The train rolled into a small station in the northern suburbs of Delhi. They disembarked and made their wa
