Enjoying the trains at night




Publisher: Bloomsbury

Pages: 326

ISBN: 9781-5266 -4418-3

MRP: 699/-


Thanks to Deccan Herald




In this book, Monisha Rajesh takes different trains, mostly in Europe, that move during the night, meets friends and strangers, soaks in the views, enjoys food, visits places, shares what is in her mind and takes us along. I had read her ‘Around India in 80 Trains’ around the time it had come out, about a decade and half ago, and I must confess that I enjoyed this journey with her far more. As I travelled with her again, I discovered areas of common interest, one after the other, be it soaking in silences or darkness, keenness to slow down or invest time with self, concern for the earth and people, meditation, engaging with interesting people, and of course trains and travel.

She writes about trains which boast of carriages that get on to a ferry or those which can carry cars, have fridges and play-areas, host formal-dinners and whisky-ambassadors, and enable us to spot wildlife species and cycle-lanes on the move! None of these I have come across in my many years of train travel in India; but what I fervently wish to encounter here as well is the concern for the environment she describes - a concern which has people prefer trains over flights and hotels offer discounts to travelers who take trains; people talking about the environment and walking the talk.

There is a lot that is common too - mingling with people, being alone amidst a crowd, neither using headphones nor being bothered by the noise of other people’s gadgets, enjoying leaning out of a moving train, adjusting with co-travellers, spotting landfills, getting lost in thoughts while staring out of the window and such. This line for example could work very well for India as well, “Whether in fiction or non-fiction, it was dismaying how travellers moving from west to east often perceived threats and ugliness from the outset, recoiling from the very people in whose land they were to be guests”.

Her love for trains is apparent, “Seeing a newbie appreciate a sleeper train was a joy in itself. It was like watching someone as they heard a beautiful piece of music for the first time, the recognition on their faces of all that a train could bring”. And, night trains, she adds, “embodied the essence of railways”; they enable us to travel in a manner like no other - be it time with self or companions, the vistas on offer, the charm of the dining cars or just snuggling away with a book. She reminded me of my times in trains - the thoughts that propped up, the sounds heard, the newspapers read, the surprises encountered, that standing at the door, being alone, silent and content, and of course that I have not put my diary to enough use.

Using the pen deftly she opens up on topics ranging from the challenges she faces with her children when talking with them on topics like racism, Britain, its people and trains - she seems to be fond of none, to how the more she travelled the more she realised that her needs were few and basic. She also reminds us that while COVID has made trains popular again, corporate travellers and tourists have rendered them a tad too expensive for the locals or that “many of the world’s railways had monstrous histories”.

Like good travel books this one too is peppered with lines of wisdom without being preachy. “Now and then someone enters your life and changes it forever. They might not know it, forgetting your name and your face, but they stay with you in spirit”, or “Looking inward - I realized it wasn’t the city that needed to warm up, but me”. However, given that most of her journeys are in Europe this book could have focussed on European night trains; the other journeys seem out of place. Also the book could have benefitted by investing more time and thought on the maps and photographs.

During these journeys she befriends people including those interested in trains, takes time and effort to remain in touch, meets friends whom she has till then only interacted with online, travels and has food with friends, fondly remembers her family. This is as much a book about people as it is about trains; enjoy it during your next train journey.


I also enjoy traveling by and writing on Trains

A Book Review (Deccan Herald)
Random Musings : one, two, three, four, five .

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