Crawling Toward Bangalore

What an entertaining story. We also have trains in the Philippines that travel to the provinces.

See, this is why I like to stay firmly planted in Traverse City, Michigan! Great story, though.

Written simply and tastefully. It’s pleasant to read. Thank u.

The picture is very similar to the scene in Vietnam. I think you should one time try to travel by train in Vietnam, the country also has very fantastic scenery and beauty spots. The train will let you go through the jungle to the beach, it is very beautiful.

umm.. there is something wrong here. Indian trains are truly among the slowest, but still, there is no train between Chennai and Bangalore that takes 28 hours. The slowest train takes about 7+ hours…

The schedules are available online as well.

Hey Arun,

That’s good to hear. Maybe that train has been put out of its misery!

Interesting article, should be done more like this, keep up the good work.

I envy you, I love the way you write!

A hug from Madrid :)

Great article, nicely written. Yes, a train journey in Vietnam is also slow. I once took one from Saigon to Hanoi and there’s great scenery en route. An enjoyable ride in which part of it curves around the coastline. You can read about it at http://vietnamtrails.wordpress.com

Clay(and the editors of Worldhum),

There’s no way you could have done this journey. There’s no train that takes 28 hours from Bangalore to Chennai - a simple Google search can show that.

It doesnt surprise me at all that you havent given any names of places or specifics in this piece.

Editors - I’m amazed you guys havent spotted the clear inconsistencies in this day and age when all information is a click away.

FYI here is more detail about why it’s extremely likely that Clay never went on his journey:
http://www.bywaystar.com/2013/01/worldhum-travelogue-chennai-bangalore-train-indian-railways/

I have to agree with Shamanth Rao’s comment. Although I enjoyed reading the piece because of the writing style, the facts are all wrong. I am really surprised to see this published here.

Shamanth,

Our writer took this trip 20 years ago and these were his impressions looking back on that trip. It’s highly likely the trains have been upgraded since then. (I would hope so, at least.) We’ve edited the story to make it very clear it’s about a journey made 20 years ago.

Anyone planning a trip today should look at current rail schedules or a recently published guidebook or mobile app. This story was never intended for trip-planning purposes.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Thank you for your response and for updating the article. Appreciate your intervention here.

Unfortunately, the fact that the writer made the journey 20 years ago does not make the article any more credible. I have myself traveled between Chennai and Bangalore through the late 80s and early 90s - and I can confirm for a fact that no train took 28 hours to make the journey even back then.

As it happens, the Chennai to Bangalore route was one of the earliest routes in India to have electric locomotives run on it - which makes it one of the fastest routes in India, not one of the slowest. (To put that into context, more than 80% of Amtrak railroad routes in America do not have electric locomotives running on them in 2013).

As early as the mid 1960s, trains traveled between Chennai and Bangalore in 5 hours(see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brindavan_Express ), so it’s ridiculous that Clay should claim to have taken 28 hours.

Besides, 28 hours to cover 214 miles would mean an average speed of 7.5 miles an hour - that is about the same pace as a slow jog. That’s a preposterous claim on the writer’s part to presume that any train anywhere could run as slowly as that.

Unless the writer has any other explanation, I’m afraid that it’s clear that he did not make this journey at all. I will look forward to your response.

Best regards,

Shamanth

Chennai to Bangalore distance is 362 km. covering it in 28 hrs would mean an average speed of less than 15 kmph, which is the speed of a train of the hill railways like Ooty,Darjeeling, Matheran etc ! I am disappointed that this article has been published without verifying it. I am sure the writer meant some other journey maybe Bombay-Bangalore or Madras-Bombay

This travelogue is nothing but a concocted cock and bull story, written by some headstrong American who had disdain towards less fortunate mortals. And it’s crystal plain from the way he has described his so called trip. Leave alone 20 years ago, why, even when trains first started running between Madras and Bangalore, the slowest ones took no more than 7 hours. And no one travels with live chicken in first class coaches! And the guy has such disdain for Beirut! It is indeed known as the Paris of the East. Yes, 20 years ago it might have been a bit war battered and weary but that wouldn’t take away a city’s charm. I am sure the war-ridden Paris of the 40’s wasn’t so pretty either. The poor naive American doesn’t have any general knowledge I guess.

Interesting…....Seems like a very happening trip but little bit disappointing statements about Indian railways !!!!!! Ya its true that trains in India are very much slow sometimes but not that much worst that travelers think its more better to walk for the destination…:) :)

Dear Clay,
What a story, I have thoroughly enjoyed it.. BTW i wonder how you saw CNN in the train 20 years ago. We in India dont have TV in trains still and also at I wonder Cell Phones and Live TV were not there 20 years ago..
Even during the british rule., trains dint crawl this much, and a fact of 28 hrs from Madras to Banglaore is totally atrocious, flaw full and without any evidence.

Either apologise for writing this made up story to gain popularity or I ask the admin/moderator of the site to completely remove it and ban this user.

What sort of high were theses guys on?

They never travelled o Madras. The entire story is a mere figment of imagination. Deserves to be thrown in the trash.

Even in i1930 Madras Banagalore Passenger train took 12 hours

I really enjoyed every bit of it and I’ve marked to ensure that the blog post something new.

A lot of people are finding it hard to believe that for an entire day twenty years ago I was on a train from Madras to Bangalore. I’ve been told the trains are not that slow. The arguments, I must say, are believable and compelling. I can’t explain why my train was so slow. But it was. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to jump off it, walk along next to it, and climb back on it. It was a frustratingly slow train. Maybe it was an outlier. All I know is I got on the train after lunch, sat on it, watched the sun set, sat on it all through the night, watched the sun come up, and sat on it some more. It was a miserably slow train, and it existed.

If you don’t like the story, that’s your right. But I know what I experienced. It happened, and, in time, it has become one of my fondest memories.

Clay,

The point isnt about liking your story or not - you have every right to write a story that I do not like(if you re-read my comments, I have no issues with how you write).

My objection has to do with factual correctness and basic journalistic integrity.

I’ve made a list of red flags in your article that I list below. If you did indeed go on this journey, how about you respond to every one of these points?

a. The distance from Chennai to Bangalore is not 100 miles, it’s 214 miles. Surely the distance between two cities cant have been different in 1993. Why did you say distance is 100 miles?

b. No train has departed Chennai at 1pm for Bangalore and reached in 28 hours ever. I’ve traveled multiple times across years - and I havent known of a train that departed at 1pm and reached the next evening. I’ve asked this before - and you havent explained - how did you manage to take a train that didnt exist?

c. You dont seem to be too fond of giving us any specific details about this journey. How about you tell us what was the name of the train you took? (if you didnt know, every train in India has a name - you cant locate or board a train if you dont know its name). While you’re at it, how about you mention the names of some of the places on the way?

d. There is no such thing as first class on Chennai - Bangalore trains. There are air conditioned cars, there are sleeper cars, there are seating cars - but there’s nothing called first class. What kind of coach were you in? Whatever it was, why do you call it first class when it wasnt?

e. In the beginning of the journey, you say Dale clambered up on the bunk bed above to sleep. At night you say you leaned on Dale(who leaned on the window) and Rahim leaned on you. If you had a bunk bed reserved for you, why were you guys sleeping sitting up? Why were the three of you not occupying your respective bunk beds? On every sleeper class train, you have to enter with reservations that entitle you to specific berth numbers. Maybe you were masochistic to forgo your bunk bed - I dont really know.

f. You didnt seem to realize the train would take 28 hours until you were well on your way. Really? That would be common sense for me to ask someone at the ticket counter or inquiry counters as to when the train will reach its destination.

g. You say that passengers ate ‘steaming bowls of rice with daal.’ I ask you - how can rice continue to be steaming a couple of hours into a journey? Wont rice have gone cold in a few hours? No, there were no microwaves in this train. Was this automatic heating of rice something you also ‘experienced’?

h. You claim that there was no ‘snack service’. Well, Chennai to Bangalore trains have an entire car that serves snacks and food - you can see its name written in large friendly letters outside - Pantry Car. You can walk from coach to coach and reach the Pantry Car in every train. Yes, this was even in the stone age that was the 90s.

i. If indeed your journey was an ‘outlier’, why was it that you didnt mention it in the article? Surely the fact that so many rules/policies of the Indian Railways were bent on a single journey should have been noticed by you? Surely a 6 hour journey that took 28 hours has got to be weird? Why would other passengers not make a fuss about it? Wouldnt they just get off and take a bus? Your fellow passengers - or you - dont seem to have had a clue that this was an outlier.

Clay, I respect the fact that you did post a response to everyone’s comments. Unfortunately, nothing that you say establishes that you did go on your journey.

How about you reply to every single one of the contradictions/red flags that I have posted above in this comment?

Best Regards,

Shamanth

Shamanth,

You’ve had ample opportunity to voice your objections to the story. Clay isn’t on trial. If you don’t believe his account, that’s your prerogative.

Readers are free to read all of the comments and decide for themselves what they want to believe.

I think it’s time to move on.

Jim

Jim,

I take your comment to mean that you as an editor see nothing wrong in this story - since you continue to keep it on your front page.

While readers are free to make their own judgments, it’s also important as to what your stance as an editor is about a story that’s as dodgy as this.

I would have expected that you would take a stance as to whether you believe the story is true or not - and justify why you think so, given the multiple inconsistencies in Clay’s story. The honorable thing would have been to demand an explanation of Clay - and pull the story off your site if he cannot convincingly explain what’s an impossible journey.

I’ve followed and read WorldHum for a long time now - but if editorial and journalistic integrity is too much to expect of you, I have to say I’m disappointed in you guys.

Shamanth,

I can’t recall details about train rides I took two years ago, let alone two decades ago. And I’m certain I’ve been confused about all sorts of aspects of travel in foreign countries. This is why traveling abroad is so fun and interesting.

If Clay were purporting to be an expert on Indian trains, this would be a different matter. But Clay never suggests he’s an expert on Indian trains. In fact, the whole point of his story is that he didn’t know what he was getting himself into and he was frequently confused during the trip. That’s why we published this story. We can relate to that feeling. We’ve been confounded while traveling abroad.

I appreciate your passion around the topic. I’ve spoken to Clay. We discussed a number of the details about the train ride. I believe he made the trip and that these are his honest impressions looking back on the trip. It’s as simple as that. Our readers are smart. They really are. I have great faith in them. They can read Clay’s account and your comments and make up their own minds.

Hi,

Shamanth is absolutely correct on all counts. I used to use the Bangalore-Mysore route as a frequent “commuter” route since I had to attend sales calls in Mysore. I used to leave in the morning, reach around lunch time, make my sales calls and hop on board the train in the evening to get back to Bangalore. This was during the period 1993-1997. And none of the trains had chickens or other birds/animals in them.

Editors have to fact-check and if the article does not even pass the basic fact-check test, then it has to be pulled. This story cannot have been possible, since no journey of this sort was possible then.  You can for instance, check the travel site, http://www.indiamike.com which is not run by Indians and confirm.

@ Desi bhai log : I think the stoned firang got confused b/w Bangalore and Bombay. Twenty eight hrs to Bombay from Chennai is plausible, but the description of the so-called “first class”  compels me to ask him where he scored such strong stuff. Let us all be grateful that he did not find snake-charmers or fakirs performing the rope trick aboard as well.

@ the editor, Clay : Gentlemen, we have a winner here. They do occasionally give out Ignobel Prizes for literature. Do enter the race.

I have been travelling on this sector since the 80s as both Bangalore and Chennai (Madras then) are my hometowns. It DOES not take 28 hours now, nor DID it ever take 28 hours. The slowest train then used to be about 10-12 hours . I am a travel writer as well and it is sad that the facts are completely wrong..Maybe the writer was referring to Mangalore and has got the names mixed up ..

The story is entertaining…but that’s all it is. The traveller must have been in a haze, of whatever kind. None of it is true - the distance, the time taken for journey, the class, the chickens… Getting a couple of facts wrong is understandable, but so many of them? And the most glaring of all - Indians love food and there’s no way a journey that lasted that long, if at all it did, could have been done without some food passing by. I should know… I have been doing this journey for at least 35 years!

I’m sorry, Jim, but I’m with Shamanth and the others on this. Nowhere on this page is it mentioned that this is Travel Fiction, or that it’s a fictional/fantastical take on an actual journey. Since it has been portrayed by Clay Shivers and yourself as a honest-to-truth travelogue, with retelling of actual facts and experiences as they happened, I think both of you, as author and editor-publisher, will have to stand by and defend what has been written and published.

I have a problem with what’s on this page because it portrays a picture of India that is plain wrong. Look at the first 4 comments, for example. People with limited knowledge of India will believe that this was the state of affairs 20 years ago when, in reality, it never was. This is as bad as painting a picture of India being nothing more than elephants, beds of nails and snake charmers, with a view of the Taj Mahal from every window in the country.

Hence, I suggest one of two things:
1. That this story be clearly marked as “Fiction” and moved to a “Travel Fiction” page along with an editor’s note; or,
2. That Clay Shivers amend the story to meet basic travelogue quality standards, which includes giving factual details (the name of the train, the time of the year, and some of the other red flags that Shamanth has pointed out in his earlier comment).

If you are unwilling/unable to do either of these suggestions, then I request you to kindly take this story down; it is grossly inaccurate and guilty of misrepresentation.

I would like to agree with the comments here about trains between Bangalore and Chennai. I have travelled between the two cities (one where I lived then, and the other where I had family and was born) since 1985, by every possible train available. I have never had to travel for more than 10-12 hours. The 28 hours seems impossible - even the buses plying between the two did not take that long to get there. I also find it hard to justify a lot of the red flags that Shamanth has raised in the comments before.

Also the comments on the chicken on the floor of the train, and “80 or so people crammed in” is definitely not an experience I have had in sleeper coaches, let alone the so-called non-existent “first-class” that is mentioned here.

All in all, this is definitely not the experience of train travel in India that all of us who have travelled between Bangalore and Chennai even 20 and 25 years back have experienced. I am sure the editor and author can understand why we find it baffling to believe that this happened.

Like many people who have commented, I too am a journalist and occasional travel writer. Plenty of people have commented that a train between Bangalore and Madras could not have possibly have taken that long; I suspect Mr Shivers probably took a train between Mumbai and Madras, and confused his names. Hey, who cares as long as it’s “fun and interesting”, right? Either way, food is plentifully available on every Indian train, however short or long the journey.

I’d like to say that this article crams every possible travel cliche into one boring , Orientalist article. Madras belly, brightly coloured Indians, suspicious drinks ( By the way, the juice he gave you would most likely have been perfectly safe Frooti or Godrej juice in tetrapacks; you are more likely to have gotten sick by eating salad at the Taj Hotel), and wonder of wonders, brown heads! Also, what is the EARTHLY POINT of describing a train journey taken 20 years ago unless you go back to see how things have changed? It’s NOT FUN OR INTERESTING.

I’d like to write a similar article on my Boston trip twenty years ago for World Hum describing, oh, I don’t know, the “ghostly whiteness” of the natives, perhaps?

I think there’s only one way to explain this article:

1. The train they took was from Chennai to Mangalore, not Bangalore. (Even that didn’t take 28 hours in the early 90s - it took about 18, and still takes about 16) We can say that the time taken was exaggerated. Also, the West Coast Express leaves around lunch time, which sort of tallies with what is here.

2. They might have bought a first-class tickets—there are first-class compartments on the West Coast that aren’t air-conditioned—but they got into the unreserved compartment for whatever reason. That would explain Clay not having a berth to sleep on.

The easier explanation, of course, is that this is all vastly exaggerated or totally made up.

Shivers got all the details wrong here right from the distance between Madras and Bangalore. Surely in twenty years the two cities wouldn’t have drifted apart by another 110 miles!
I am a journalist and a frequent traveller between the two cities since 1985. And never any train took beyond 10 hours to cover the 215 miles between the cities.
Also, writing from memory about a journey made 20 years ago is one thing writers never do and editors never publish.  Jim himself has said, ” I can’t recall details about train rides I took two years ago, let alone two decades ago. “
It will be appreciable if Shivers and the editor clearly reply why they wanted to publish this without verifying any details including the basic one - the distance! Not good journalism.

Entertaining and imaginative! at best ! :)
Since the writers opinion of Beirut was shaped by CNN, I am assuming her experience of India was shaped by Fox news. A Lebanese car salesman in India, chickens in a first class compartment ... lol .. she missed out on the elephants pulling the train and how the driver arrived on a magic carpet !  Am not denying that India can be frustratingly mad and chaotic for a foreign traveler, but this is just total fiction, even 20 years ago!

To all the commentors who feel the need to reiterate over and over again the possible ‘mistakes’ in the article, I recommend you get over it. Read the piece as a piece of fiction if you must. I dont think it was meant to be hard reporting in any sense of the word and its not any reflection of the otherwise excellent service of the Indian Railways (or a reflection of you as Indians for that matter). Booking a train ticket today is still a bit of a nightmare for us locals - I can only imagine what it would have been like for newbies, 20 years ago. Also if a writer chooses to sprinkle his piece of creative writing with a few exaggerations- please dont feel the need to point out EVERY single point of possible inaccuracy. It speaks more of your thin skin than it does of anything else.

Hi Jim,

I appreciate the fact that you took this seriously enough to speak to Clay - and discussed with him details about the train ride.

I also appreciate the fact that you have faith in us readers and believe we are smart. Since so many readers seem to have called Clay’s facts into question, would you be kind enough to share with us what details you discussed with Clay? What made you believe that he actually made the trip? If he did indeed make the trip - and since you trust us readers of yours, I don’t see any reason you should be so reluctant to share these details with us.

My big issue with the piece is not that I expect Clay to be an expert on the Indian Railways - the problem is that the piece is logically inconsistent in multiple places. A man who sleeps on a bunker bed in the afternoon can’t be without one at night. A man cannot travel by a class that doesn’t exist by a train that doesn’t run. The distance between two cities cannot shrink by a hundred miles. A pantry car cannot disappear. A bowl of rice cannot heat itself up. A man ‘may not know what he is getting into’ - but he cannot miss signboards at stations or information printed on tickets that tell him departure and arrival times.

None of the above require any sort of ‘expertise’ on Clay’s part to get right. Clay might have been ‘confounded while traveling abroad,’ but I don’t think I’ve managed to catch a non-existing train while traveling abroad yet.

I respect your statement that you did speak to Clay and discussed the matter with him. Since so many logical inconsistencies remain unresolved - and so many of your readers remain unconvinced, I request you to urge Clay to come clean.

If you are still convinced that Clay’s journey was genuine, I urge you to share with us the details that you did discuss with Clay that enabled you to resolve the above inconsistencies. If Clay’s journey was indeed genuine, I do not see why you should be reluctant to share the details which convinced you that the rest of us are not yet privy to.

Indeed, if you shared this additional information with us, we readers might be able to appreciate Clay’s journey with all its quirks all the better. As I’ve reiterated before, my concern is about basic integrity - and I do hope you will be good enough to clarify where you stand so we readers can continue to trust you.

Sincerely,

Shamanth

What an entertaining story ! You see, STORY is the operative word. The writer’s strong point seems to be fiction-writing, not ‘travelouging’.  ‘’ The map showed a hundred miles’‘—Ya, probably right, as an Apache flies , but nothing travelling on the surface of the Earth, surely !  The inconsistencies and inaccuracies are too numerous to repeat. No train took that long thirty years back, I am sue of it. Anybody can refer to the published Time Table of that period. And people travelling from Madras Central to Bangalore with live chicken, in First Class ! Clay, you are a regular riot man, would like to meet you some day. Meanwhile, you promise me to stay off the weed, won’t you ? Thanks for the entertainment, and for acquainting me with the world’s most gullible travel site editor (!)

What an entertaining story ! You see, STORY is the operative word. The writer’s legitimate vocation seems to be fiction-writing, not ‘travelouging’.  ‘’ The map showed a hundred miles’‘—Ya, probably right, as an Apache flies , but nothing travelling on the surface of the Earth, surely !  The inconsistencies and inaccuracies are too numerous to repeat. No train took that long thirty years back, I am sue of it. Anybody can refer to the published Time Table of that period. And people travelling from Madras Central to Bangalore with live chicken, in First Class ! Clay, you are a regular riot man, would like to meet you some day. Meanwhile, you promise me to stay off the weed, won’t you ?!! Thanks for the entertainment, and for acquainting me with the world’s most gullible travelsite editor (!)

@ Desi bhai log : I think the stoned firang got confused b/w Bangalore and Bombay. Twenty eight hrs to Bombay from Chennai is plausible, but the description of the so-called “first class”  compels me to ask him where he scored such strong stuff. Let us all be grateful that he did not find snake-charmers or fakirs performing the rope trick aboard as well.

@ the editor, Clay : Gentlemen, we have a winner here. They do give out Ignobel Prizes for literature. Do enter the race.

farce

is this a lame attempt to improve page views? why is a clear work of farce on the front page of a travel blog?

“Our readers are smart. They really are. I have great faith in them.”

The only reason I don’t dismiss this statement as a platitude is because of the comments above from readers who are taking the time to call out the BS.

Readers aren’t always such a pain in the ass, certainly not when the story in question is “Why We Travel” and the writer is Pico Iyer.

This piece is just about as inaccurate as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. But then, neither are travel stories. And that is all we’re trying to say.

Excellent piece. However, it belongs in the fiction secton, along with Lance Armstrong’s books. Speaking of which, what *was* Mr Shivers smoking? He was clearly on a trip of his own. A goodly number of impecunious furriners backpacking through India seem to be perpetually on a cannabis-induced high, which might explain the vivid imagination. It’s a pity his travel fantasies remained just that—fantasies.

I’m intrigued by this sentence: ‘Editor’s note: This story has been modified slightly since it was originally posted’. What was the ‘modification’? Most trusted sites explain what such edits involve, so why is worldhum above such niceties?

Samanth, you’ve taken great pains to point out all the possible inconsistencies in the article. You’ve also registered your complaint with the editor (many time over). I think this is where your prerogative ends. The writer and editor are in no way liable to tell you the details of their private conversation or to refute any of your allegations!

I’m from Madras and now live in Bangalore, do the trip every month and know all the details of the logistics of the trip, the really great food on the Shatabdi blah, blah..I still found this article funny and a great piece of creative writing. Were there chickens on his train 20 years ago? Was he going to Bombay and not Bangalore? - This is a man writing about his personal experience - you are free or believe it or not. Get over it and move on I say!

I have to agree with Shamanth on this. This is a plot to defame India and its places. This is not the first time its been done. Racism!!

This guy is struggling fiction writer. Somebody pls give him work. He was bluff well.

On a humorous note, to someone on this thread that mentioned carrying elephants in the train in sarcasm - the cost of carrying an elephant on trains today in India is Rs 1500 per head (of elephant), chickens/birds is only Rs 10! Absolutely nothing on restrictions on carrying said animals :)

The India Railways site (scroll all the way down to the end) -

http://www.indianrail.gov.in/luggage_Rule.html

Sangita - If you’ve got anything to take the debate forward, you’re welcome to share it. Show the critics how to appreciate this story for all its literary goodness. If all you have is a personal grudge against Shamanth Rao (who is addressing the author and editor, btw), then take it offline. Thanks.

Ladeedah - I don’t know Samanth Rao (so bear him no ill will). And I am taking this debate forward -just as you are btw, by putting down my (perfectly valid) comments on this thread. I can address Samanth as a stranger, just as he can address the author/editor. Thank YOU :)

I have to agree with Shamanth and all the readers questioning the integrity of this piece. Clay and Jim, and a number of the readers here may be urging the likes of us to “move on” and “get over it”, but let me break this down.
I’m a travel writer. Not a particularly experienced one. I’ve been in the industry a couple of years. I have no journalistic education, but it doesn’t take a degree to realise that integrity is key to journalism. Especially travel journalism, when your voice is influencing thousands of readers and their opinion of not just a train track, but a people, and an entire country. And there’s precious little of that integrity to be found in the space above this comments section.
All this story does is lace stereotypes, factual inaccuracies, and “recollections” to form a travelogue (whether that’s the right term is debatable) that fundamentally lacks any spine.
It’s well written, I’ll give you that, but then so are all of Stephen King’s novels.

I am with Clay here. I have no reason to disbelieve that he took the trip (pun intended). He is pretty sure of his originating station and destination. On the way, he appears to have taken a slight diversion, taking in the Philippines, then onto Vietnam, and travelling briefly on the train to Mandalay before returning to India. That it all happened within 28 hrs is not of much consequence, when we know that the human mind has the capability to be at several places at the same time !
  But serious travellers may not like to be treated to farcical presentations of journeys. A separate section dedicated to creative writing would be a good idea. One cannot trifle with facts as one can do with one’s personal opinions. For example, which Time Table ever showed a train taking 28hrs between these two cities ? And which map ever showed a distance of a hundred miles between them ? Although an US educated Lebanese guy working as a car salesman in India 20 years ago, and for that reason is a frequent traveller between these cities, is very unlikely, though not totally impossible. Anyway I think what can be said about this episode has been said, and nobody is under any compulsion to visit these sites. But correcting a wrong impression by putting forth the facts, as Shamanth has done, might be informative for genuine travellers.

The most poetic thing about this page, though, is that it lists THIS (http://www.worldhum.com/travel-blog/item/has-technology-killed-the-tall-travel-tale-20130106/ ) as a related story. Coincidence? :)

My biggest issue with this post is that it paints such a false image of India and unfortunately this is what is believed to be India..now or 20 years ago..goes with the stereotypes of snake charmers and magic potions ..and I thought World Hum is one of those credible sites on travel

There is nothing wrong with this article if is in the fiction section. But in the travellogue section as pointed out by many people, particularly Shamanth Rao (excellent initiative Shamanth !!) there are too many inaccuracies so it is not credible. I request the editor to either ask the author to come up with the details and correct the mistakes or transfer this article to the fiction section.

When foreigners who have never heard of Indian Railways before read this article, they will get a completely wrong and negative picture of how India was. So it is for this reason that this article either needs to be corrected or moved to the fiction section ASAP

Clay, I still think that this is an amusing story :)

Nice story. I had a similar experience in the USA too. I took a train, pulled by horses, from Bristol CT to NYC. It was 15 years back I think. One white guy came to me and stared at me for a while and walked back to his seat. Outside, in the prairies, I saw Indians being chased by the US Army. I think we took about 37 hours to reach NYC. Upon reaching the Central, I took the subway to go to Jackson Heights to eat my masala dosa. I love traveling.

Respected sir, I am a aspiring travelogue writer. I trust you will accept and honorably publish my account of a trip I made to the US around the same time Mr Clay was travelling from Madras to Bangalore. Unlike Mr Clay I have upturned every stone to fill in complete details of my trip. I am landing in New York City one sultry morning in December with my pal Thiruvenkatasamy Soundararajan. We are have a tough time finding a place that serve curd-rice, so we withdraw our entire life’s savings from Lord Krishna Bank in Manhattan’s 18th street and buy a paneer sandwich (by two) and a cutting chai at McDonalds. Then we are have a couple of hours to kill, so we go to Times Square to watch Linda Goodman in Deep Throat and nearly choked on our paneer sandwiches. Soon it was time to hail a cab to go to JFK railway station but the bleddy sardarji driver took us the long way round but we still fooled him because though we paid thrice as much we got a FREE sightseeing tour of Bronx, Brooklyn and Hoboken. Our Amkette train was only half an hour late and we got into our pulldown compartment. The airhostess was very hospitable and we managed to drink three glasses of 7-Up. But after my third glass I began to feel a little bit dizzy so I went to lay down in my pulldown berth. One TTE came and tried to ejaculate us from the compartment thinking we were ticketless peoples but I flashed him my high caste thread and he left us alone after that. I ordered my dinner when we passed Los Angeles and it was served in my seat. By next day afternoon we had pulled into Texas where my co-brother was waiting for us at the station. Unlike Mr Clay I was very happy with my experience. Thus concludes my once-in-a-lifetime trip of the united nations. I beg and hope you will find it suitable for acceptance in your esteemed publication.

ROTFL!!! Now *that* might actually win Worldhohum some genuine appreciation. And it does what travel writing shoudl do - promote global understanding :)

On a somewhat tangential note… EVERYBODY JUST SAY NO TO DRUGS!!!

“Feet of Clay” just hit a completely new dimension.

Jim,

As I read this sterling article I am at a loss as to what genre of writing it falls into. Fiction seems too tame, a travelogue seems too fantastic, so I will settle for the nearest style: racist libel.

As a reader, I am ashamed that World Hum would allow the publication of such xenophobic, misinformed, racist, nonfactual articles. It isn’t funny, it isn’t creative and most of all, it offends more than it entertains. Perhaps you are trying to spread the message of world hate; or were some of your jobs outsourced to India? Whatever the case, I think you need to review the name of this site - Racist American Hum comes to mind.

For the record, I register a formal protest against this submission and request that you take this disgusting piece of yellow journalism or fiction off your website.

Kind Regards,
Alan

Clay ! With you bro. I had the same experience, this one time in ‘murica. Was travelling from California to Boston distance of hardly more than my hand on the map. I was on my way to catch the steamer from Boston to the old world so that I could cash in all the gold I had panned in the valley. Must have been about .. oh. 20 years .. or 45 days back. I forget which. And also not sure if it was California. All I remember is all the super-fit bleached blondes that the guys wearing pointing white sheets had as secretaries. NEWAYZ - I decided to take the scenic route with a plane instead of the far more efficient teleporter that Spock had loaned me.

Got onto the flight, and was greeted by the now familiar but yet strange american custom of probing a stranger’s anus before embarking on any journey. Later I found out that this is an old native american custom for good luck.

I insisted on flying Club class, where naked nubile virgins would anoint me with eucalyptus oil and massage me during the journey, but instead discovered that I would be seated between 2 very obese and loud gentlemen from Kansas.

Well - if not comfort, I thought conversation should be lively. We then discussed world politics but that didn’t last very long as they both agreed that Canada wuz good and Mexicans wuz bad.

My club class meal was thrown in my general direction by the seventy year old crone with an instructions to enjoy. I inquired if the meal was vegetarian and prepared by brahmins no more than 4 hours ago. she responded by pulling out the meat from between the buns (ha ha -no no not what you think) and I was left with two crusts and a bit of cheese. Luckily I had just come from Victorian England, so this wasn’t a problem for me.

Although the flight was a “direct” one, it wasn’t non-stop. So about 13 hours later I found myself in Texas on the way to Boston.

and then I came to and realized that i shouldn’t be smoking crack.

Drugs are bad, mmm-kay? Have you been smoking mari-joo-aanaa, Clay? Drugs are bad, mmm-kay?

We also have that kind of train before that runs very, very slow and dirty but now the government implemented a new system that they bought new trains to use to make the transportation in the railroad better.  Check this website http://www.migrationexpert.com/visa_us/

Some people have way too much time on their hands…

Super easy for the same guy to change his user name and troll on this site. Nastiness all over the place.

Having never been to India, I have no idea about the facts here. But as a travel writer and a longtime World Hum admirer, I’m really troubled by your response to what seems like legitimate questions being raised by commenters.

No, travel writing isn’t exactly the Watergate investigation, but the truth does matter. And the editor’s responses here struck me, frankly, as bizarrely disinterested in getting things right.

This, for example: “This story was never intended for trip-planning purposes.”

What an oddly dismissive reaction to real concerns! But also, why so snarky and condescending? None of the commenters were suggesting the story be used as a guidebook. But are service writers the only ones that should bother to get facts straight?

“Clay isn’t on trial. If you don’t believe his account, that’s your prerogative. Readers are free to read all of the comments and decide for themselves what they want to believe. I think it’s time to move on.”

Clay isn’t on trial? Really?! It’s suggested that one of your writers fabricated a story (in whole or in part), by a fellow journalist with serious complaints, and your response is to attack the messenger by suggesting she’s somehow hysterical or acting out of personal “prerogative.”

Maybe I’m missing something and there is something personal here. But…uh…huh?

And then this: “I can’t recall details about train rides I took two years ago, let alone two decades ago.”

Good god. What a horrifying thing to hear from an editor. Of course there are events one doesn’t remember clearly. But most writers would have the good sense not write an entire story about them.  Or, if the tale was really worthy (this one wasn’t, in my opinion), at least make it incredibly clear in that the memories are fuzzy.

Hey, World Hum, you’re great. We love you. But you handled this badly. Get it together.

Interesting…....Seems like you had a wonderful vacation in south India. Its true that trains in India are not picking pace, as compared to bullet trains in world. But still, it is the largest medium of transport used by not only Indians but also from world travelers to explore majestic destinations.

Cheers,
India tours

It is an entertaining story but highly fictional as the comments below clearly show.

Also a good thing that the editor has looked into this article and comments but it also highly appalling that he chose to overlook all the facts provided here by the readers and staunchly support the author. While it is acceptable to support your staff during such incidents, but such disregard for facts only damages the credibility of worldhum. For an internet website meant for travelogues this story seems like a work of fiction and definitely lowers this site to a parody. For me such an incident only means in the future I will not look here for any meaningful details for my travels anywhere. I would highly condemn such unprofessional behavior by the editing staff.

Haha very enchanting! I have always loved abstract and fiction writing.
Impressive.

Hi Clay

I’m sure you got the stations wrong. Even if we assume that the story is 20 years old there is no way that the journey would take 28 hours. There are two possibilities I see. Either there has been an accident enroute and hence the train stopped at some station for long enough. Alternately you got the start and end stations wrong.

Also your mention of first class being over crowded is a great imagination. May be you purchased a first class ticket and boarded a general compartment which is meant for last minute unreserved travellers. Your description of the compartment exactly fits that.

In all your future travels in India please be aware of the information desk. Also the people in India are very helpful and can guide you to board proper train and proper compartment so that you can travel more comfortably.

Hi Clay!

Please display the courage to say you erred in thinking that all that you read about India (written 200 years back) was true; as true as the early seamen having romanced mermaids.  You believed that and tried to make up a story, probably knowing only the names of two indian cities.  Your article lacks not only truth but the honesty and integrity of a travel writer.  Thank God, you didnot say you were travelling from Islamabad to Dhaka thinking they too were Indian cities.  I say this because I am convinced you didnot undertake this trip.  In fact I am pretty sure you have never visited India as the picture you paint is that painted by the early travellers from the westerner world who could get away with any fictitious piece of writing since they could be fairly sure that there would no one travelling to the part of the world they wrote about.  Nice article in the wrong age!!

Dear Editor,
We love the site and please maintain its credibility.

Jim:
Nice that you discussed the article with the writer and were convinced “that he made the trip and that these are his honest impressions looking back on the trip.”
However to silence your critics also for them to be as convinced as you are, I suggest that you also confirm the facts for yourself.
The train closest to the writers description, Bangalore Express starts from Madras at 1:35 PM and reaches Bangalore at 8:05 PM in the evening (sorry not the next evening-it reachesthe same evening). It of course is the longest running train (6and a half hours and not 28 hours). This may be taking 28 hours to complete the journey if not 20 years then 100 years back. You can surely verify the same by writing a mail to the General Manager, Southern Railways, Chennai at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). I am sure he will have one his assistants help you with the facts like how many hours did this train take to complete the journey in late 20th century or mid 20th century or late 19th century.
Your data of facts shall definetly silence all your critics.
You also are sure that the “readers are smart. They really are. I have great faith in them. They can read Clay’s account and your comments and make up their own minds.” Truly after you made this remark not 1 person who has not visited these parts or known them, has commented any more.
Sure, they have made up their minds.

Hi, I’m from B’lore and whatever the flaws are in this article, the vitriol flowing in the comments section is unprecedented. The only thing the editor should do is get a stronged moderator for the comments section. Also make sure that ppl cannot change their user names while posting. Seriously sick of the trolling. It reflects much worse on our country than anything in the article ever could.
And please don’t feel bullied into explaining anything in the article- it reads just fine.

Listen kid… I’m from the moon and I wanna ask - why are you so concerned about user’s changing names? Did you discover this loophole all by yourself, you IIT grad? It seems like the critics have raised some valid points, imho. There is a bit of bullying, yeah thas a shame, but defly some valid arguments as to why the editor might wanna do a rethink. Just try to look over the trolling, as you call it. Are you trying to create a good impression of our beloved country (toot toooot) or do you actually have an argument? Those who started this thread have moved on. There are new folks whore gonna land here every day and they’re gonna say what they feel. That’s how the internet works darling.

This story was so good I have to share it, especially with my English teachers. A lesson from this story is a picture is not what it seems. The train is ridiculously slow yes, but I am sure it is an experience that’s worth remembering.

Listen Mom, it wouldn’t matter if you changed your name a billion times over- my problem is that a)you’re just such a biyotch and b) you’ve already repeated yourself countless number of times already. Yes, we get it now! Your sarcasm and ‘genius’ avatars were only funny the 1st couple of times and are now growing very old. Get over it mom, please!
Yours truly, loving bundle of joy..

Oh, and thanks for the lessons on the Internet. Here I was thinking it was a safe and warm place. I did NOT however think that everyone that wrote an article/ blog/ anything that could have any factual errors was personally answerable to Me. Just tweet about it some more, write another big blogpost, drink some tea and you’ll automatically start feeling better.

Amazing post. Love your writing style. Wish I had those skills to.

Hugs from Bulgaria :)

Well guys there is no use arguing with any of these people. If they want to publish some rubbish then let them. I’ll admit I as an Indian don’t like India so much because of it’s backwardness. Just because our country is still developing doesn’t mean that we were even slower in the 80’s but I can tell you for sure that it can never take 28 hours from Chennai to Bangalore. My grandfather worked in Chennai and Hubli as a A grade driver and he never mentioned anything of this sort. The slowest goods train won’t take so long. Clay should specify the route atleast. Fiction is one thing but this doesn’t seem like fiction?? Even if by chance there was some major delay and the train was routed via other places it still wouldn’t take 28 hours.  As far as we can all see Clay, as much as I inspire your writing style, your story is just a waste when there is nothing true about it. If you say you undertook that trip then hey-ho we all set foot or Mars. If you can post something as silly as this on an a site as renowned as this then well you have to accept correction. You can’t argue with people whose families worked on the railways in that very same region and on that same sector. For God sake get your facts straight Clay. It’s a pity that the editors support you even though they have something called the INTERNET at their disposal.

Bangalore is no doubt a magical city with many places to explore. Your train travel exposed a lot about the Indian Railways and its mechanism. World travelers opting best options such as road journey, train journey and other core mediums to explore India tourism, because its the best way to know this fabulous country better.

Regards,
Travel Packages India

I cannot believe that people are truly so naive as to take this fantasy story from Mr.Clay as facts to form a belief that there was indeed a train that took 28 hours from Chennai to Bangalore and that too the distance is 160 km and not 362 km. As pointed out by quite a few people, even the slowest goods train would take much less time. I am making another request to the editor to move this into the fiction section or ask the author to correct the so many errors or remove it altogether, failing which it should be treated as compromise of ethics.

I thought Worldhum prides itself on being renowned for publishing the best writing and the most travel-authentic literature. Given the amount of negative comments on this thread concerning this story, I’m not so sure. It seems that the editor is over-preferential about what he wants to publish as long as the writing is good.

Looks like the LA Times is making up stories about slow trains in India, too. When will it end?

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/31/world/la-fg-india-fog-20130201

Rob, I went through the article provided in that LA Times link. Unlike Clay’s article, this piece is a genuine article and there is nothing cooked up in that. The North Indian fog has indeed played havoc with train and flight schedules. And yes, 95% of our train squat toilets are indeed foul smelling. I can completely picture whatever LA Times has published and it’s true to the core. This is how a genuine travelogue should be—the train name is genuine,  the source and destinations match, the class of travel and descriptions match, and the entire descriptions match with a typical Indian railway journey.

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It seems to me, as suggested by a few people, that Mr.Clay is abusing his freedom by coming under pseudo-names and posting different comments that support his ridiculous travelogue that can at best be a piece of fiction.

nice article

Great article makes surprising reading.

For a distance of more than 350 Km, a passenger train generally takes around 10-12 hours in India even now. 20 years ago it could have been 15. Assuming that the passing priority of that train was the lowest and a few hiccups could add another 4-5 hours to the journey. That makes it a total of around 20 hours. To make the story more compelling the author took the liberty of adding few more hours, whats wrong in that. The story is well written and symbolically depicts the sorry state of the Indian railways. Good work, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Well, that is indeed a charming story and provides a vivid picture of India albeit 20 years ago! I’m sure things have changed dramatically since then.