Local Passenger: Short Stories Based on Indian Railway Journeys

The short stories were eye catching, and had that metaphorical hold on me. Sometimes it gave that tiny smile you need, or the loud laugh you need, some nostalgic feel. Just Like A Train, it had many stops, it wasn't ever about destination but all about Journey. The way author has written book , when you read it feels as if you are right beside the author as a passenger.

This is the first novel/story book that i completed as it's very interesting and easy to understand. One can easily find the stories relatable to him/herself. The best part about the book is all the stories are very consise. If you are a beginner then you should read this and if you are a pro then you must have to read this.

Very good concept and definitely a book to read in one sitting, I couldn't put it down. And all impressed with handle on language and story telling by author. Nothing I can say a very very good book

I was looking forward to reading Shardul Dave’s ‘Local Passenger: Short Stories Based on Indian Railway Journeys’ after seeing the attractive cover and reading the glowing reviews posted on Amazon India. “Willingly or unwillingly we have always interacted with strangers during our railway journeys” declares the back cover of this book. Having served Indian Railways for nearly four decades, I fully endorse this view. This book is just 59 pages long and it contains ten stories about railway journeys, printed in large font and double spacing. One story is about a middle-aged man who was travelling in a coach with a leaking roof, who did not occupy another seat till the arrival of the travelling ticket examiner. Another story is about a shooting champion who had to sprint to catch his train and yet another is about an elderly lady who lost one of her slippers while boarding her train. I must say that I found these stories to be quite underwhelming. The presentation is equally disappointing. On page 20, the guard of the train, now officially known as “train manager”, is described as a “signaller”. On page 33 the book says, “One college boy entered to the coach from connecting way of another coach.” I would have preferred to read “A college student entered the coach through the vestibule of the adjacent coach.” Some random sketches embellished with inane and ungrammatical remarks like “Interestingly, T.C. always travel without Ticket!” add pages to this book, without adding any value. At the end of the book, the author summarises himself as “MBA, Traveling and Indianness” – I must say that I had much higher expectations, both in terms of content and presentation, from a post graduate in management who claims to be fond of travelling. Strangely, the publisher has classified this book under ‘Non-fiction/Travel’– which raises the question whether this a work of fiction (short stories) or non-fiction (travel)! Either way, this book is quite disappointing.

Real life incidents are very well narrated by the writer. Some stories will make you laugh and some will make you cry. A short yet interesting book by Shardul Dave. Must read book if you are beginner and if you love traveling in trains.

The content of the book is very exciting..feels like you are also on the journey along with the author. Very fantastically written. Great work by the author.Very Competent. A must read book. A book which surly should be in someone’s bucket list.

The short stories are nice simple and meanigful with humour, lessons, emotions, and a lot of entertainment in between.

Lucid description of our day to day travel by railway and fun that it is ,despite challanges