Indianness in Railway Travel Narratives
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Abstract
Travel is a research into the depths of a previously unexplored city. It expands the boundary of knowledge. Exploring the depths of the nation’s external and internal spaces allows the traveller to feel the hues and flavors of its cultural consciousness. Travelling across India by train offers an interesting blend of flavors that reveal the essential Indian sensibility and spirit. Indian trains are true examples of different cultural patterns as it travels through different states of India. The peculiarity of an Indian train is that people of different caste, gender, sex, culture can be seen. Indian trains and railway stations are the best examples of cultural diversities. Railway narratives are cultural travelogues as they are symbolic of the perpetual mark of Indian culture. The Indianness of the nation can be exactly tracked down through railways as its people have inevitably marked themselves on the railways. A study on railway narratives also brings highlights into the obstacles that slow down the development of the nation such as illiteracy, bribing, hunger, corruption, etc. This paper seeks to analyze the importance of Indianness in the travel narratives Chai Chai: Travels in Places Where You Stop But Never Get Offby Biswanath Ghosh and Around India in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh. It also looks upon the importance of railway stations in India.