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A review by soniek
Around India in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh
2.0
I sincerely wish this journey & the resulting book project were undertaken by someone else who isn't narrow - minded, prejudiced & a much better writer & narrator.
The author is a UK born NRI who decides to cover the length & breadth of India in 80 trains. The challenge is that she hasn't been in India much, it's practically a foreign land for her. Heck, such a trip would be quite a new experience for even resident Indians because the country is big & diverse enough to offer lots of novelty. And trains are the lifeline of India, connecting its remotest, poorest, most undeveloped populaces. And any trip which brings together people from diverse regions, cultures & background; for hours & even days, is bound to give rise to memorable interactions & experiences. Add to that, the geographical diversity itself, because no other mode of transportation can cover such terrestrial variations in a single trip.
And yet, instead of writing a beautiful narrative out of these, the writer gives an unsatisfactory description of the journey, further spoiling it with her own prejudices, stereotypes, consistent complaints about India & Indians, and her weird intermittent spats with her co-traveler.
Nevertheless, if Rajesh is the anti - heroine of this book, the main protagonists are the 80 trains featured. Notable among them are: the 1)Mandovi Express of the scenic Konkan Railways, 2) the luxurious Indian Maharaja - Deccan Odyssey 3,4) the Himalayan Queen & Darjeeling Himalayan toy trains 5) another luxurios Golden Chariot train 6) Lifeline Express (a hospital train), besides the well known & popular Rajdhani & Shatabdi expresses.
Train journeys are so romantic, that despite being annoyed by the writer, this book made me nostalgic & left me yearning for train journeys.
PS: Pick up a better book on Indian train journeys
The author is a UK born NRI who decides to cover the length & breadth of India in 80 trains. The challenge is that she hasn't been in India much, it's practically a foreign land for her. Heck, such a trip would be quite a new experience for even resident Indians because the country is big & diverse enough to offer lots of novelty. And trains are the lifeline of India, connecting its remotest, poorest, most undeveloped populaces. And any trip which brings together people from diverse regions, cultures & background; for hours & even days, is bound to give rise to memorable interactions & experiences. Add to that, the geographical diversity itself, because no other mode of transportation can cover such terrestrial variations in a single trip.
And yet, instead of writing a beautiful narrative out of these, the writer gives an unsatisfactory description of the journey, further spoiling it with her own prejudices, stereotypes, consistent complaints about India & Indians, and her weird intermittent spats with her co-traveler.
Nevertheless, if Rajesh is the anti - heroine of this book, the main protagonists are the 80 trains featured. Notable among them are: the 1)Mandovi Express of the scenic Konkan Railways, 2) the luxurious Indian Maharaja - Deccan Odyssey 3,4) the Himalayan Queen & Darjeeling Himalayan toy trains 5) another luxurios Golden Chariot train 6) Lifeline Express (a hospital train), besides the well known & popular Rajdhani & Shatabdi expresses.
Train journeys are so romantic, that despite being annoyed by the writer, this book made me nostalgic & left me yearning for train journeys.
PS: Pick up a better book on Indian train journeys