Greetings from an Indian Railways coach, with spectacular views from Mumbai to Goa

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Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR’s international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.

I love Mumbai, but there are days when the city tests me. When I’m walking in sweltering heat amid a cacophony of horns, dodging dog poop on the pavement, coughing up dust churned up by zigzagging rickshaws.

So I took a break with my family this month near the beach in Goa, and booked a ride in a Vistadome coach on the 12051 Jan Shatabdi Express, departing 5:10 a.m. from the British-era Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.

As the sun rose and mists evaporated, I and the woman sitting beside me swiveled our chairs to face the train’s famously wide, clear windows. As we did, a lush, green vista rushed past: tangled jungle, swollen rivers and waterfalls.

I gasped, and then laughed. What a perfect balm, I thought. And a chance to fall in love, again, with India.

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