ROOM WITH A VIEW

Arriving at Aurangabad Station at 5.15 a.m., it was staggering to see an array of people sleeping out on the street - the lucky ones were on the floor in the station and the rest spread out from there - tiers and tiers of folk lying closely spaced, wrapped in a blanket, sometimes just a foot protruding !

I was catching the 6 a.m. train to Mumbai, the Express and I was traveling chair class. Waiting on the platform I was joined by a porter who spoke quite good English - he asked where I was from and when I said Italy, a smile creased his face and he said,' so is Sonia' ! We chatted for a bit and then he said, 'the trouble with India is that there are so many very poor people who have so little and sleep outside and only live to the age of 60, whereas the very rich live to 120 and do nothing for the poor - and nothing ever changes'. He went on to say that important people speak about India in the UN and say everything is going well, but 'they don't talk about the plight of the poor'.

Traveling chair class was very comfortable. India always has surprises up its sleeve and the journey was no exception. A steward came through the carriage and offered us 'omelette sandwich' - someone else with a large urn offered us 'chai '- very sweet and with milk, this is served in a small glass. At the next stop a child, about 6 years of age, crawled through the carriage on hands and knees cleaning the floor around our feet and holding up a hand for a rupee - she scuttled along like a crab, her arms flying in all directions.  Her world must be shaped by pairs of shoes and dusty feet.

Arriving at Mumbai station, two taxi drivers spotted me as I descended from the train and ran at top speed in my direction - a fight of amazing ferocity then ensued, as they decided who would get the prize (me). With banging, slapping and shouting, I stood aghast, wondering what I should do, when a man in a bright emerald green shirt arrived on the scene and guided me away - take a local train instead, he said, it'll cost you a minimum amount. With that he showed me the right platform, told the conductor I didn't have a ticket and they quickly agreed that I should get on anyway as the train was about to leave. He put me into a 'women only' carriage and told them to get me off at the right stop - I was guided and helped every step of the way - a long chain of kindness.