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Show 4 There is 50 much of amusement in the compartments of Indian train that one is lost in admiration and wonder and forgets the discomforts of th hard narrow benches and the swaying motion. On the way to Rawalpind one of my compartment companions was a well-to~do Mohammedan gendleman on his way to Sailkot, where he was o be married. With him wa cro beyond capacity with an array of shoes, slippers, dnd cle(hmg of ever description. Like almost all Indians he was a serious man without a trac of humour. During the daylight hours of the journey he occupied his tim by trying on his myriad shoes and slippers, one pair after another. Dozen of pairs of flowing pants, rainbow-hued shirts and jackets were produced b the servant from the piratical iron chests, only to be discarded, one after th other, by the prospective bridegroom. At last, hmma, he was arrayed i an outfit that seemed to please his every sartorial desire; and, with dee satisfaction, he sat unrnnv(d amid all the mmy of his gay sleeping accessories until we reached the station oIW irabad where he and his fa u retainer changed trains for Sailkot.An Indi an railway station is as colourful and as noisy as a comic opera, picturesque travellers come and go, an apparently anyone can enter the confines of the station with every conceiv able commodity balanced upon his head and offer his wares for sale In my journeys in all parts of India it was my experience that th lndum were reluctant to talk (o strangers until the visitor's nationality wa . Only when they were sure that I was an American, and not Bnmh subjccl did they talk freely and openly to me. In the sacred Gange there is said to be a is slow to advance his ideas concerning freedom and independence for hi | Digital Imag © 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah. All rights reserved |