For 34 rupees, I experienced all that is wrong with India. For 34 rupees, I saw the best. For 34 rupees, I saw the worst. For 34 rupees, I took a local train, a passenger train, from Sawai Madhopur to Agra. The distance is only 224 km but it took close to 10 hours to reach my destination.
Unwillingly, I put myself in the middle cage in a moving zoo. I was the trapped animal that people paid money and threw food at. For the price of 34 rupees or less, lucky Indian passengers got to marvel at a foreigner for a whole ten hours.
Indians do not know the meaning of nonchalant glances or being indiscreet. I knew this already. I was prepared for unwanted attention. But this whole experience took the cake. I wasn’t fast enough to secure a seat so I had to stand by the toilet. My arrival grew a crowd of about ten men who stood and gawked at me. I tried my best to ignore them but it was impossible as the space was too small for all 11 or us. I thought I would make the best of it by ignoring them and reading my book. Two men, for the first hour seemed harmless so I chatted with them. A third man man kept staring and staring at me in a very creepy way. Actually he followed me from another compartment so I knew I had to be cautious.
It was a weird game of Simon Says but nobody was saying anything. I would stand. Everyone would stand. I would sit on the floor. Everyone would sit on the floor. I would walk through the aisle. Everyone tried to follow me down the aisle.
By the second hour, I managed to secure a seat. My admirers followed me and pushed people out of the way to get close to me. One of the two men that I befriended started asking for presents of money. I thought, oh here we go. I politely said no. I tried reading but he kept reading over my shoulder and trying to sit closer to me. He had a newspaper and he started showing me pictures of bras, and asked if I was wearing one. That was my cue to get up and leave. In spite of all the chaos that I caused with my huge backpack, I managed to find a better place to sit.
Simply put, it was pure hell. People kept walking pass me to stare. Word must have gotten out that a crazy female foreigner was aboard. The bold ones would reach out to touch me. All my patience quickly evaporated. The creepy man managed to find me and took up a place to leer at me. Luckily at that point, I had just met a nice Muslim family who helped me out with him. They were really kind. They even bought me cucumbers to eat. (A common snack). When they left, I was on my own with that loser so I tried to move.
Two farmers from Kota who were on their first trip to Agra gave me shelter near them. I could sense I could trust them because they barely glanced at me when I sat down and they couldn’t speak any English. I think the older man sensed I was ready to cry because he glared at the creepy man who kept walking by and gaping at me.
So now I am in Agra, safe and secure. I am relaxed and happy. What is it they say, if it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger?