Around India in 80 Trains

Crackles and sparks with life like an exploding box of Diwali fireworks. -- William DalrympleIn 1991 Monisha Rajesh''s family uprooted from Sheffield to Madras in the hope of making India their home. Two years later fed up with soap-eating rats severed human heads and the creepy colonel across the road they returned to England with a bitter taste in their mouths.Two decades on she turns to a map of the Indian Railways and takes a page out of Jules Verne''s classic tale embarking on an adventure around India in 80 trains covering 40000 km - the circumference of the Earth. She hopes that 80 train journeys up down and across India will lift the veil on a country that has become a stranger to her.Along the way Monisha discovers that the Indian Railways - featuring luxury trains toy trains Mumbai''s infamous commuter trains and even a hospital on wheels - have more than a few stories to tell not to mention a colourful cast of characters. And with a self-confessed militant devout atheist in tow her personal journey around a country built on religion isn''t quite what she bargained for...