‘No matter how busy a train is, you can always find a quiet space’: Travel writer Monisha Rajesh

There’s a peculiar balance of permanence and impermanence to train journeys that’s hard to find anywhere else. The permanence of space – the certainty of a small, shared world of humans, berths, food, and, if you’re lucky, gossip – set against the impermanence of passing stations and passing lives. Sitting in the space between these two states are Monisha Rajesh’s books on train travel across India and the world: Around India in 80 Trains, Around the World in 80 Trains, Epic Train Journeys, and her latest, Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train.

Rajesh has been writing for over a decade, chiefly in travel. On a bright, sunny morning at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Scroll met her for a conversation in the (somewhat cramped) confines of the media lounge. We spoke about writing on the move, the changes she notices in passengers today, the parts of society that reveal themselves only at night, and the companionship she’s found along the way.

I like to think it was a heartfelt conversation. I like to think we were, briefly, on a train.

Excerpts from the interview:

What were the central differences in your experience writing Around the World in 80 Trains and Around the World by Night Train? On one hand, you’re writing about trains, but night is also a social...

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