Top 10 characters you meet on trains

Summer usually makes me nostalgic of times when we actually HAD a summer vacation. It usually meant going to our parent's village and have a much laid back lifestyle at least for a few weeks. One of the best things of the vacation was the actual journey itself - courtesy the Indian Railways second class compartment. To me, this is the best way to know the real India. Here are some familiar characters during the journey

1. The Roving Romeo

This person is typically in the 19 - 25 age range. His first job before boarding the train is to look at the reservation chart and see if he can spot any 'F 19' person on the passenger list. You should see his joy when he sees quite a few girls in the range 19 to 25. You should also see his disappointment when he sees an old woman because Indian Railways decided to change the seats at the last minute. However, he is not defeated. He will twist and turn and try to eye women at least 20 feet away. Even if that does not work, he will saunter into the next three coaches and come back with news to his friends about exact locations.

2. The Inquisitive Indian

Probably the most common of personalities, he is the one who will start a conversation with his neighbour with the ice breaker question 'Aap Mumbai jaa rahen hai?' (Are you going to Mumbai?). This is at the beginning of the journey and by the end of it, knows everything about you and your family, including the name of your dog.

3. The 'My Train - My home' Traveller

This person is the one who has travelled the same route hundreds of times and is comfortable that the train is actually the extension of his home. You can recognize him by the "lungi" he wears as soon as gets on the train. He is also the person who can tell you that the train is late by 2 hours and depress you even more. A close friend of this character is the 'Let’s play Cards' Comrades - usually recognized by playing cards all through the night and loudly analysing each game.

4. The 'Can you exchange seats' Comrade

This is the person who usually tries his charm at exchanging seats with you because you are travelling alone and he has friends in your compartment. His seat would be usually 72 which is near the toilet which we know usually stinks. If you resist, he will mutter some obscenities under his breath about unhelpful passengers.

5. The 'We like Good Food' Family

This is the family which seems to have enormous amounts of food while you are eating the mess that Indian Railways calls as meals. Puris, Aloo Subzi, Achhar, fruits etc. In olden days, you hoped that they would offer it to you but these days, you are scared because they might add drugs to make you sleep. They eat all the time and scatter all the food on the floor. They are also the ones who occupy most of the space for storing the luggage.

6. The Happy Honeymooners:
These are the couples typically found travelling to tourist spots and are lost in their own world. Typically, you recognize them by the fact that they are completely lost in themselves and oblivious to the world. The guy has this confident look and the girl always giggles for any reason. You can hear giggles even after asinine statements like 'This train is a vestibule'.

7. The Lower Berther:

This is the annoying guy who has the lower berth while you have the middle one. He takes his own sweet time to finish his food while you wait for lifting the middle berth. He ends up waking late making you sit like a hunch back in the morning.

Conversely, when you have the lower berth, he always seems to sleep early and wake up late!!

8. The Crude Artist:

This guy is usually an artist lost to the world - he draws his "masterpieces" in the toilet with crude lines and even more cruder drawings - usually ends up teaching people about the "birds and the bees".

9. The Off Key Singer:

This person is not really a passenger but one of those people who carry an old harmonium and sing a song very very off-key - the song could be years old but still the singer persists - 'Didi tera devar deewanaaaaaaaa'. Disliked universally because they ask for money.

10. The Dirty Floor Sweeper:
Again not a passenger but promptly comes early in the morning cleaning your compartment with a grubby cloth and keeps touching you. You just pay him money so he can move on..


I am sure there are more that you have seen so do feel free to add characters you have seen….