My 24-Hour Train Ride to a Wedding

A few days ago, I traveled from Varanasi to Ratlam by train to attend a wedding, which meant a journey of over 24 hours. I take the train all the time, but I usually avoid trips longer than 13 or 14 hours. This time, however, I had no other option. The person getting married booked my ticket, and since we were traveling in a group, it was going to be a fun journey anyway. Indian trains have several classes, such as General Class (no reserved seat), Non-AC Sleeper, 3AC, 2AC, and 1AC. I usually prefer 3AC as it’s the most comfortable class at the cheapest price, but my ticket this time was for the Non-AC Sleeper class.

The journey from Varanasi to Ratlam was uneventful, and to be honest, I never got bored because I was with my friends. The return journey, though, was quite an experience. When our train arrived at the Ratlam station, we found our coach door was locked from the inside, and there were people sleeping on our seats! We asked them to open the door, but they all pretended not to hear us. We finally had to enter our coach through another one. When we asked the people to leave our seats, they simply refused to listen. All of them had wait-listed tickets, which means their seats weren’t confirmed.

We started by requesting them politely, then began shouting, and it finally escalated into a full-on fight. After 45 minutes of pleading, shouting, fighting, and what felt like a war, we finally got our seats! I had traveled in the Non-AC Sleeper class several times before, but this journey was unique because I saw something I had never seen in a train. In the Non-AC Sleeper class, anyone is allowed to enter, so all kinds of services are offered by unauthorized people. You’ll see people selling chai (tea), others selling books, and some begging… but this time, I saw snakes in the train.

I saw a group of snake charmers showing snakes to people and asking for money. People were offering them money because snakes are associated with Lord Shiva and are considered holy in Hinduism. I was truly surprised but also amused. It seemed so strange to me—snakes in the train and no one to stop them? Anyway, I was able to film it. Enjoy!