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243 pages, Paperback
First published November 8, 2011
His predecessor, the Palace on Wheels, still rolled his old bones up and down Rajasthan’s tracks, but had succumbed to age.
During the day he stood quietly in local stations, being fed and watered by his engineers until ready to leave again.
we snaked around the families holding hands through the bars and arrived at the door to A2 as train number nine, the Kerala Express to Kottayam creaked and began to move again.
Two people had been pushed down the waiting list because of our whims and fancies and I felt terrible—but only for a moment. This was India and this was how India worked.
Each question establishes where the other person sits on the social spectrum: surnames give away caste and social standing; jobs indicate earnings and therefore power, as does revealing where you live. Once they have all the answers, they can assign people to categories and gauge how useful the acquaintance will be in the future.
He raised a palm and reached down to behind the bench separating us, then stood up holding a metal jug and bowl. He began to pour rajma into the bowl and it splattered over the sides as he produced a foil packet and began to unroll a pair of rotis. It was his own lunch. ‘Come.’ The gentleman gestured for me to climb over the bench and I shook my head. ‘Oh, no, thank you, that’s your lunch.’ Ignoring me, he began to clear a patch of bags from the floor then laid down a sheet of newspaper. He put down the food and waved me over. I stepped over the bench and took off my bag as he turned the table fan towards me. ‘You must eat,’ he said, sending a colleague down to bring up some water. I bit into a roti and started to cry.