Sulekha's India Smiles

The list of 60 short listed articles are rolling in 2 per day in Sulekha. I just started briefly looking at them. Suprisingly many of the authors have chosen the theme of a railway station, train, the journey. Well, having spent 20$% of my college life travelling in trains, it was amusing for me to try and connect to these articles. Sure, trains do offer a more colorful way of travel, better than even flying. Where else can one hear "chai chai" early in the morning at 4.00, get 10 bucks chocolate icecreams at 3.00 pm in the afternoon in under 3 secs (remember Nagpur station?), have a totally tasteless "pongal" (for the innocent, an Indian recipe made of rice and grams seasoned with black pepper)and even after completing it, assume it was upma(well, its another Indian snack). Where else can you get endless supply of munchies, sleep,eat,read,chat,play,stare all sitting at one spot. I wonder how many romances have bloomed over train journeys (I know a bunch that did during my college times). I can remember the endless anthakshiri, "literacy", books devored, blast of fresh air while standing near the door, the apple juice at delhi station that kept me alive. A train journey can sure paint thousand pictures of different moods, colors, people, language, cuisine (?). One of the things that make living in India a more interesting experience..