India, Oct. 24 -- 'I want to count people,' said Charu to her father.

'Your brother has started with buffaloes.'

'Let him count buffaloes,' she responded.

'All right,' he conceded. 'Do it from the window.'

'The door is bigger than the window,' she argued with a three-year-old's determination.

'Fine. Concentrate, don't miss any.'

She gripped his fingers tight and swayed by the train door, concentrating. He felt clever, even wise, for deflecting the coin crusade. It showed on his face as he waited for the bridge over the River Bhombal,and receded as he reacquainted himself with his worry: what if it got dark? Darkness, on top of the short halt, would make it hard to extricate the trunks and suitcases and all six family members - seven...