India, Feb. 15 -- A side-lower berth in a long-distance train is the best place to see India. It gives a 55-inch panoramic view of the hinterland, a charging point, and ample space to stretch your legs, but not enough to sleep well. Hence, it's the business class of trains, with the added possibility of some random person walking away with your slippers for a visit to the toilet.

Our colonisers constructed most of our railway stations on the outskirts of towns back in the 1800s. Since then, cities have grown around these. So, when a train enters a city, it goes through the entire cross-section to reach its heart - the railway station. It passes through its bazaars, mosques, temples, and railway phaataks (level crossings) where bikers wai...