The train was crowded. It made sense. It was New Year's Eve, after all; people were going places. I put the girls on the top berths, to ensure some semblance of privacy, but we didn't know what to expect. I love sleeping on the train. But sleep was not the main item on the agenda for tonight. The aunties in the next compartment were singing evening ragas, one after the other, in unison, almost until midnight.
Then at midnight, the men started. they were already quite drunk by the time they got to our compartment. They were calling out "Happy New Year!" to everyone who was awake, and to a lot of people who were no longer awake. They shook my feet and my husband's feet to look into our eyes and yell, "Happy New Year!" They tried to reach the top bunks where our teenage daughters were trying to ignore them.
Just as I was wondering when they would move on, one of the aunties from next door stood up in the passage way and scolded the young men in Hindi, with hands on hips. They were gone in an instant, quietly calling "Happy New Year" down the rest of the compartment.
Then at midnight, the men started. they were already quite drunk by the time they got to our compartment. They were calling out "Happy New Year!" to everyone who was awake, and to a lot of people who were no longer awake. They shook my feet and my husband's feet to look into our eyes and yell, "Happy New Year!" They tried to reach the top bunks where our teenage daughters were trying to ignore them.
Just as I was wondering when they would move on, one of the aunties from next door stood up in the passage way and scolded the young men in Hindi, with hands on hips. They were gone in an instant, quietly calling "Happy New Year" down the rest of the compartment.
