Mumbai Train Station

I was told that it's impossible to get train tickets last minute in India, and that they fill up a few weeks in advance. But I've been to enough train stations in enough countries to know that there are always open seats. It was difficult to imagine why India would be any different.

We started with Counter 1.

"We need tickets to Hyderabad for tomorrow."

Some clicking on a computer made in the early 80s ensued, and the elderly woman told us there are no seats available. She was plump, but not in a cute or hearty way--her age made her look like a melting candle.

"I can put you on a wait list," she offered.

"No, we'll keep trying."

We try Counter 7.

No seats.

We try counter 3.

"Just be really angry. If we're difficult, they'll have to cave," I whisper to Bianca, who was already in battle mode.

I saw two Japanese tourists who were being pushed further and further back in line by Indian men who kept cutting in front of them. The two women asked them to stop going in front of them, but the men just said something about how they needed tickets. The Japanese are truly one of the kindest people I've been around, and I thought it unfortunate that no one would ever think that of Indians.

Then again, I don't think Indians care. Much like the Greeks, Indians have a strong sense of patriotism completely independent from international perception. They don't care how you feel about them, because they already know they're the best.

Still, I wanted to help those women. I wanted to at least tell them that these men aren't worldly travelers like them, and by the looks of their attire and demeanor, they look more like the type to sit with the luggage and drink whiskey all night. They weren't exactly marked with signs of success or well being.

But we had our own battle to fight, this time with Counter 14. Counter 7 had told us about a tourist quota trains have. I don't know if that's a real thing or something the attendant made up to shut us up without feeling like she caved, but either way, we used that reasoning to get two tickets to Hyderabad in 2nd class. We got one on waitlist, expecting to have to bribe the conductor, but none of that was necessary. The three of us just sat together until the conductor came to check our ticket, and he just told us he'll let us know if a seat opens up. Kendon found a seat within the hour.

There are two pieces of advice I'd like to give anyone traveling by train in any country:

1. There are always seats available, just keep asking.

2. Attendants get flustered if you yell at them in a foreign accent, use it if you need to--they will be much less likely to argue with you if they don't perceive you as their peer/have difficulty understanding you.