The Silchar-Lumding route in Assam is only about 250 km in length, yet the scheduled night train journey between the two towns is about 7 hours. In reality, it took around 11 hours total, with lengthy stops in-between.
As the only foreigner on the train and indeed, at the train stations at both ends, I kind of hoped for a bit of a leeway when it came for tickets, such as a possibility of a sleeper or a second class car. No such thing. The only thing the station master was able to do for me was to recommend I sit at the car for the military personnel, supposedly less crowded. Apparently, everybody else got the same advice, so the carriage was just as crowded as the rest.
It was, perhaps, both the worst and the best train journey of my life – I’ve got to meet my benchmates from Mizoram who kept treating me with super spicy chicken feet which they cut for me with their dagger–like knives, and the equally fiery rice moonshine. One of the passengers let me sleep on the top shelf meant for baggage – the other alternative was to stretch on some newspapers right on the floor. But the dodgy stops in the middle of nowhere in pitch darkness, when half of the train would disembark for an impromptu picnic, were particularly worrisome given the complete absence of any authorities together with the increased inebriation of my train mates.
But before I experienced all that, shortly after the train departed, I decided to take a walk through the cars with my camera. In one of the corners, I saw this kid, sitting on the floor, visibly startled by the sudden emergence of a stranger. Was he frightened because he hasn’t seen a foreigner before? Or simply because he was most likely riding without a ticket? I like to think it’s the latter, and thus I call this photo “Ticketless”.