I pity those who did not open themselves up to
interacting with strangers. I soaked up
every bit of people experience that I could have, with the time left after camera
and writing time. The dining hall, smoke
breaks and lounge cars were the places for interaction. There was interest, respect and understanding
when I talked about my country, culture and mythology, very little of which was
known to them. Bias, if any, was kept
aside. In at least one situation, even
our biases were discussed with respect.
I met a grandfather-grandson duo; they could not convince the middle
generation about rail travel but decided to do it by themselves. Grandfather knew that cities in India have
been renamed. He told me that the image
of rail travel in India that Americans have is people traveling on the roof of
coaches. I explained to him that there
are rides options available over a wide spectrum- from free ride to tickets
costing a few cents to Palace on Wheels- the high end options treat passengers like
a King but at a price point which many average Americans will not be able to
afford. We also talked about the
positive bias that many in India have that America is a land of milk and honey
where dollar rains from the sky and where all is perfect. Such simplistic imagery from both sides
result from lack of knowledge about the two countries. The discussion ended with a respectful
understanding of each other’s position and a warm farewell handshake.
On the first day, during breakfast I was
seated with Charlotte from Pennsylvania.
She is a charming woman of 83 years- traveling with her daughter and
great grand-daughter. We chatted, and
she allowed me to take her photograph for my blog. She told me how extensively she traveled
within the United States with her husband.
She also told me that she has six children, 25 grandchildren, 16 great
grandchildren and 6 great-great-grand-children.
She survived a stroke, a heart bypass, cancer and is waiting for a
cataract operation. She is the center of
her extended family, and carries forward her husband’s rule that grandchildren
cannot be punished.
My co-passenger Tom in nearby Roomette was a interesting
fellow. He is a retired air traffic controller
who is now fed up with planes. He
travels with bagful of gadgets ad heart full of joviality. It takes a while to realize that his apparent
profanities are in the nature of good-natured bantering. He gets away with
questions such as “Are you Gay? These
days you need to ask. I am not”. He loves to drink ad enjoys company of
women. He tipped the coach attendant
handsomely soon after boarding, generously offered me the use of his wifi
hotspot when I lamented that the train does not have on board wifi, spent most
of his time in the Lounge Car making friends and drinking his heart out with
them, few times in the day stumbled back to his room and crashed till he was fresh enough to go drinking
again, diligently came down to smoke
cigerettes at every smoke break station despite having a nicotine patch on him
(he offered me one too, seeing him my mind questions the efficacy of the
product), and introduced me to his “true soulmate” when I went to his room to
make sure he packed all the things that he had scattered all over the
room. Me and his drinking partner helped
him pack and get him out of the compartment just in time; though “soulmate”
showed no apparent affection during departure and did not come down to bid him
goodbye. The coach attendant was more worried about him, and searched his room
when he de-boarded. His sunglass was
found, with which I ran to hand over long after we hugged and wished each other
a safe journey. The train conductor held
the train even after “all aboard” shout till I completed the 200-meter
dash. During farewell, he told me that
he is rich and famous, and I should look him upon in Google. I told him I only care about the fact that he
was a good man. Undefined bonds are the
signature of momentous Amtrak journeys.Tom and I became smoke break buddy with Shawn, who worked as engineering draftsman in New York but lost his job. Instead of sitting and home and ruing his bad luck, he has set out to see his great country. He is going to Seattle, but he discarded the direct train from Chicago to go via San Francisco because this route is more scenic.
I met Patrick and his girlfriend, who were painting in the Lounge Car with rapt attention. They permitted me to take photos and we chatted. They are heading back to Colorado. She teaches Yoga and Reiki there. She wanted to come to India to do a course, but was persuaded by family to do a certificate course in Virginia instead.
I met Elaine from Wisconsin. She was knitting designs on wool in the Lounge Car. She permitted me to take her photo. She is traveling with parents and brother to visit relatives. We talked about Kumbh Mela- the religious festival which us the largest human congregation on earth.
I also met with two elderly sisters from Missouri who are doing two stretches of Amtrak to reach Seattle, from where they will take a cruise. “We have been planning this for a long time”. Part of our lunchtime conversation revolved around spices.
I met a father who is traveling with his two young sons- trying to prepare them for extensive train rides in Europe. They are headed to Glenwood Springs, Nevada for adventure sports.
In our sleeper compartment, there was a group of boisterous elderly sisters who boarded from various locations- they are taking their mother for a vacation.
In one of the smoking
stops, I had a great conversation with the train Conductor about the history
and railroad heritage of some of the towns along the route of California
Zephyr. A town in Colorado is named
Helper as the early settlers helped the goods trains to climb up the steep
mountain slope by adding their own engines and pulling the trains.
In the middle of all
this conviviality, I learnt from train Conductor that two young passengers in
their 20s were thrown out of train by the Amtrak Police in the middle of Nevada
desert for “disruptive behavior”!!
The photos of people in this blog have been taken with their permission. They are aware that the photos will be used in my travel blog.
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