ON THE TRAIN TO BANGALORE

Hannah glanced anxiously at her watch. It was 11.! ".#. and the night train
$or Bangalore was lea%ing in & #inutes. 'he "eered along the di#ly(lit "lat$or#)
searching $or a $a#iliar $igure in $aded *eans) carrying a well(worn ruc+sac+. But
the station was deserted) a"art $ro# a tired(loo+ing "orter shu$$ling around
ai#lessly and s#o+ing a cigarette. 'he thought ,ac+ to their con%ersation
earlier that day) "erha"s he-d ,een serious a$ter all. They-d argued #any ti#es
during their /(#onth tri" and he-d o$ten gone o$$ on his own to 0cool o$$1. But
then he-d always turn u" later and they-d sort out their di$$erences. Hannah
$ingered her tic+et ner%ously. 'he didn-t want to lea%e without 2eter) ,ut to stay
o%ernight in such a lost and lonely Indian train station was not a desira,le
o"tion. Two #inutes $or the train de"arture and no trac+ $ro# 2eter) too $ar
#any thoughts $ighting and rising in her #ind) and $ar too little ti#e to thin+
clearly and decide3 as i$ dri%en ,y external $orces Hannah got u" on the train
and when she realised the train was already slowly #o%ing. 4istance ,etween
her and 2eter was growing) was her $irst right and clear thought. Ne%er ,e$ore
had she $elt so lonely in the #iddle o$ a crowd staring at her. 5inally) she had
got used to this +ind o$ Indian staring since she $irst got into India / #onths
earlier) ,ut she had ne%er ex"erienced this ,eing on her own) she had always
had a re$uge in 2eter. The train was #o%ing then $aster and she was still
standing ,y the coach door) *ust o""osite the s#elly toilets) un,eara,le to
6estern noses. 7uriously) this ti#e she hadn-t notice the s#ell $or so#e
#inutes) was her nose turning into an Indian one. Or li+ely not) there was
"ro,a,ly too #uch stu$$ to "rocess inside her to "ay attention to s#ells) surely
that3There she was) with a +ind o$ sad) and at the sa#e ti#e) o"en(#outhed
ex"ression on her $ace) carrying her 18(+ilogra# ruc+sac+ on her ,ac+) and
s#elling the disgusting s#ell. 'he $elt a #ixture o$ $eelings) hard to "ut into
words. A little $ear) a little excite#ent) a little sadness) a little hea%iness) a little
disa""ointed) a little lightness) and so#e other 0littles1 which all together ga%e
her a really weird and new $eeling.
'uddenly she got "ractical) and started to #o%e and loo+ $or a "lace to stay
along the 1&(hour *ourney to Bangalore) a seat would ,e ideally "er$ect. Indian
trains are a huge world in the#sel%es9 train tic+ets are di%ided into nu#erous
categories: 1
st
A7 class) ;
nd
A7 class) ;
nd
non(A7 class) /
rd
class) slee"ers and
general. A$ter three #onths tra%elling and ha%ing ex"erienced all u""er classes)
they had decided to ,uy 0General class1 tic+ets this ti#e) the lowest class tic+et.
Then) she <uic+ly understood what 0general1 #eant) a su"er(o%ercrowded)
dar+) dirty and s#elly coach. There were "eo"le sitting all o%er the roo#
where%er they could9 on the $loor) ,etween or on the ,ags) sharing the s"ace
too close to each other to ,e strangers to 6estern loo+s. 'he started to loo+ $or
an e#"ty s"ace) <uite an i#"ossi,le *o,9 the coach was a co#"lete #ess. 'he
could hardly #o%e around when she clearly heard so#eone calling her na#e
0Hannah=1. 'he $elt as i$ so#eone had cast a s"ell on her) that %oice was so
+indly $a#iliar to her) it was a $e#inine %oice) and $or an instant e%erything was
illu#inated to her) e%en i$ it was dar+ and dusty all around. 'he cast an eye o%er
the crowd) trying to distinguish who had "ronounced her na#e. Ne%er ,e$ore
had she $elt so excited at so#eone calling her. At $irst) she couldn-t recognise
whose the %oice was) it was $e#inine $or sure) then she i##ediately saw a girl
standing u" and recei%ing her with o"en ar#s. Both girls hugged. It was Nuria)
they had $irst #et in Go+arn) a lost "aradise $ishing %illage in the south o$ the
country. They had s"ent so#e really nice ti#e together) with 2eter and Gor+a)
Nuria-s ,oy$riend. 06here-s 2eter.=1 06here-s Gor+a.=1 they ,oth as+ed each
other.
Nuria 7orell
>anuary ;?1!