Q & A

Ram, who was born near a train station, frequently encounters trains in his journeys around India, and they represent connectedness while also hinting at inequality and other social issues in Indian society. Ram’s initial birth near a train station represents the transitory way that he goes through life—he has no permanent home because he is an orphan, and so he ends up in various living situations over the course of the novel. The irony is that as much time as Ram spends in close proximity to trains, he rarely gets to take them because they are too expensive for someone of his low social status. This reflects how due to his poverty, Ram is seldom in control of the direction his life takes, as he is forced to go back and forth between cities to protect himself or make ends meet. The one time that Ram is able to afford to ride a train, after he gets his salary from Colonel Taylor, Ram ends up losing his hard-won fortune to two dacoits, showing how for someone from Ram’s background, success is precarious and can be undone in an instant. Train stations are a place that bring together all social classes in Indian society, but they also highlight the stark inequalities in society, as people in the lower classes are less likely to be passengers and more likely to be menial employees or beggars. The trains in Q & A highlight the connections in Indian culture and identity that Ram experiences as he lives his nomadic life, but they also highlight the differences among social classes, as the poor are excluded from the mobility that the trains promise.