“It’s a shit ‘ole, India, but a nice shit ‘ole.” Perhaps not the way you’d expect travellers to describe a land of majestic temples, romantic deserts and spiritual hideaways. But after travelling to the four corners of the country, Monisha Rajesh believes this sentiment (expressed by fellow traveller ‘Paul from Rossendale’) is actually pretty much spot on.
“I loved hearing that,” she laughs. “Because it’s absolutely how I feel about India.” After spending two rather miserable years of her childhood in Madras, Monisha returned to India to reacquaint herself with the country she had once been so desperate to leave behind. But rather than booking an organised tour around the Golden Triangle, Monisha decided the best way to see the country was by making a whopping 80-train journeys; a trip that she recounts in her first travelogue Around India in 80 Trains.
Crazy? Very possibly.
As a young journalist I myself spent six months working in India, but sweltering heat and a cockroach phobia meant that my own experience of trains (although undoubtedly enjoyable) was limited to a couple of overnight sleepers. But it also has to be said that the railways truly offer a privileged insight into Indian life at its most authentic and varied.
“The trains are almost like a caste system,” Monisha says. “You’ve got first class with the businessmen and politicians at one end. And then as you walk down the train you see things changing. At the other end of the 37 carriages the food’s not as good, the bedding’s rougher and you find you’ve got a completely different type of person, too.”
Which raises another question. India is often unbearably hot, startling noisy and rather grimy. As our Rossendale friend would say, it’s actually a bit of a shit hole. So is it really necessary to join a sweaty huddle that wouldn’t be out of place on a rush-hour Jubilee line train? Especially when there’s an air-conditioned, comfy, sort-of-private carriage a mere 37 carriages down.
“I’d say do both,” says Monisha. “It’s ridiculous to think that it’s only safe to get on the luxury trains, but I also don’t agree with people who say you shouldn’t travel in first class or stay in nice hotels because it’s not the ‘real India.’ That makes no sense. India does do luxury and does it very well. For so many Indians their India is not the one of smelly streets and poverty, but it’s just as ‘real’ to them.” So if you really can’t face roughing it, don’t feel too bad about opting for luxury railway travel, and instead make the most of fine dining, butler service and lavish decor.
Around India in 80 Trains is full of hilarious anecdotes and bizarre experiences, but one that I’m particularly keen to ask Monisha about is the ten days she spent in silent meditation. That’s ten days without speaking a word. Ten days with no iPhone. Ten days without checking your emails, reading a book or even glancing at your Facebook.
I have a couple of free-spirited friends who’ve been to India for silent meditation, but it’s been easy enough to roll my eyes and dismiss it as weird hippy behaviour. However, I find Monisha to be a down-to-earth, easy-going Londoner rather than a barefooted, dreadlocked hippy. How would she find this rather strange practice?
“I had no intention of doing this initially but it seems everyone who’s done it says they feel incredible after,” she tells me. “And the thing that really sold it to me is that it’s completely free. It’s such an unusual thing to fit into how we live nowadays and I was very curious to see what it would do to you as a person.
“I’m usually quite sceptical about these things but it really was amazing. You’re spending 11 hours meditating every day and interacting with one another without using words. It’s quite incredible. When you’ve got nothing to do, the sort of thoughts that come to the front of your mind are something else.”
But if you don’t have much luck in finding your inner peace, you might want to have a go at liberating your true self at the Osho ashram. Infamous for its Rolls-Royce-driving, self-styled spiritual leader and stories of wild orgies, it’s fair to say Osho has something of a reputation. So I’m quite surprised by Monisha’s decision to spend a couple of days at this ‘meditation resort’ and – to be honest – a little afraid I’m about to be regaled with tales of wild sexual escapades – especially when she informs me all visitors are required to take a HIV test on the way in. I mean, really? “It was hilarious, just the funniest two days,” Monisha laughs. “It was rather creepy but I wanted to see it myself and to talk to these people. It was so bizarre but an experience I’ll never forget.”
And perhaps this is the most important thing to note about India: wherever you go it’s an experience quite like none other. It can be terrifying, thrilling and overwhelming at the same time, and any trip is bound to contain the odd moment of ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ But the atmosphere is infectious, the landscape unparalleled and the people some of the most welcoming, intriguing and hilarious you’ll ever come across.
So, yes, maybe India is a shit hole. But Around India in 80 Trains will make you realise that it’s a unique, charming, funny and beautiful shit hole that, quite frankly, you wouldn’t want to miss.
For further insights and updates into India from Monisha, do explore the website that accompanies her book.
Monisha Rajesh will be appearing at the Henley Literary Festival in the event Travel Writing: What Next? on Tuesday 1st October 2013 at 10am at Bix Manor. Tickets are £10 and include coffee, tea and cake. What more could you ask?
The event also features Tom Chesshyre who is interviewed for The Arbuturian next week about his book, A Tourist in the Arab Spring.
For more information about events and authors at the Henley Literary Festival visit the website. And don’t forget to take advantage of the festival’s 2-for-1 ticket offer exclusive to Arbuturian readers. For details, click the link.
Photos by Harald Haugan.
