Chasing trains

We went to Lucknow this weekend.

We - the 5 K College kids, Taylor and Alex from the University of Chicago, program director Nita Kumar and her daughter Irfana - were a bit late heading off to the train station (not helped by me forgetting my passport at the last minute) and then got stuck in horrendous traffic, so we arrived at the station at the exact time our train was supposed to leave. “RUN!” we were told, and run we did - despite the fact that we had no idea where we were going. We arrived breathless at one platform, only to realize that it was the wrong one, then took off again and finally found the correct train just in time to jump on as it was pulling away.

The train was nice - air-conditioned, with squishy stacked bed-benches. We brought lots of crunchy, packaged snacks and happened to be sitting close to the two CUTEST babies in the world, both of which helped passed the time. Somewhere around 10pm we pulled into Lucknow.

Some highlights from Lucknow:

“The Residency,” ruins of a British fort that was attacked by Indians in 1857. The Indians put up a good fight, but were ultimately defeated.

Barra Imambara, a building where Muslims gather on the anniversary of Muhammed’s grandson’s martyrdom. The upper floors of the building was a labyrinth of narrow stone tunnels - tremendously fun and pretty confusing.

Our hotel room, which had fluffy white beds and working air-conditioning. Living the good life!

Eating delicious meals, both at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant and at Nita’s mother’s home the following night. After gorging myself on mutton kebabs, chicken, channa masala (chickpeas) and lentil patties, my protein deficit has been fulfilled. I’m now prepared to handle another 7 weeks of potato sandwiches.

Visiting a fair-trade shop. A little pricey, but I got beautiful kurtis and cards!

Our train on the way home was significantly less comfortable than our first train. Our lovely beds were replaced by upright chairs, and the weak air-conditioning went off every time the train stop - which happened often, for long periods of time, in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. The other disappointment was that water was not available for purchase on this train, which was a significant concern for me. After several hours, I decided that I was going to find some water - goddamnit! - and eventually figured out that we were about to stop at a station where I could buy some. Katie, Ben, our new friend Ritz and I got off at the station and located water, but as we were buying it we saw that the train had begun moving! We sprinted through the station and eventually hopped onto the closest car we could reach - Ben, Ritz and I in one car, and Katie in a car in front of us. We rode for a while - the nighttime breeze making the coach car surprisingly pleasant - until the train slowed to another inexplicable stop in the middle of a rice paddy. Climbing down from the train to switch cars, I misjudged the height and fell, landing on my knee. It immediately began throbbing, but nevermind that - the train was moving again! Again, we ran after it and managed to jump onto the correct car. Back in 3rd class AC, we passed three hours reading and talking, and arrived in Varanasi only an hour behind schedule. My knee is a bit swollen and bruised. There are two small cuts, which I’m hoping will turn into scars. A small price to pay for such adventures.

Trains are great.

Pictures: Sign outside Barra Imambara. A view of a mosque. Our group on the rooftop of Barra Imambara. The Residency. Our new friend on the train to Lucknow.